Putting it Together
by MidnightStarr
Summary: For the longest time they never even knew what 'it' was. Fun? Silly little things? Love, maybe. It took Max and Mariam awhile to figure out the grand scheme of everything because 'it' came with highs and lows, lonely moments and times spent as close as the seconds on the clock. But whatever 'it' was... it was perfect. [Max/Mariam ABC Drabbles]
1. A is for Agenda

**MS:** Hello everyone! It's been so long. I've been rewatching my childhood favorite, and I have to admit... the urge has struck. I know it's been years since I've posted anything Beyblade, but hopefully this fic isn't too out of date.

So many wonderful authors out there have inspired me to try an alphabetized collection of drabbles. Mind you, most won't be just 100 words and most will carry different ratings, and different situations. Here's hoping I still have my flare for Max and Mari. And the Saint Shields, and so on... Can't help but love every character just a little! Though this fic will deal mainly with just Max and Mariam with side-pairings and such mentioned in passing.

Let me know how this one is with a review and I'll be quick to follow up with an update. :) Thank you so much, hope you enjoy these! Beyblade should've lasted forever. The GOOD Beyblade that is... first 3 seasons, cough, ...

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><p><strong>A <strong>is for _Agenda._

He watched her do it first.

It seemed to take Max awhile to get enough interest in her, to realize that maybe she was worth the stalking act too. But once it had happened it was obvious; he was following her for more reasons than to find their hideout and get that piece of rock. But then again, Kai supposed Mariam had been just doing her part for the Saint Shields' 'mission.'

She hadn't been following Max because she wanted to.

Well, truth be told Kai didn't know. He watched the wind-whipped tendrils of blue hair disappear behind a tree as Max drew Draciel back into his hand; practice conceded for the day. His younger teammate was none the wiser that he'd had an audience.

Bit by bit, day by day the BladeBreaker's team leader got used to seeing her. A blur, the snaking of a shadow as it leapt a fence. Kai wondered if Mariam knew he could feel her there, watching them. She seemed to really like perching on the branch of Grandpa's sakura tree... just watching Max beyblade.

Then those little visits seemed to get longer and longer.

By the time a few weeks had passed, Max started sneaking off too.

Kai would see the blonde's eyes lingering on the retreating backs of four warriors. Then Max would want to go rent a DVD or something. Maybe check his dad's hobbyshop. Odd how Max never seemed to come home with a movie. Odd how his dad never seemed to mention Max's popping by.

Odd.

Kai crossed his arms, watched as yet again Max yawned and stretched his arms over his head. It had been a rough one that day; laps and beybattles and obstacles right up until suppertime.

"I'm exhausted. Thank god we're finally finished." Max looked around at the eyes of his team. "Hey guys, I think I'm gonna go for a walk. Maybe drop in to see Dad for supper or grab something fast to eat. I'll be back later."

Smiles and nods. Again, Kai witnessed Max walking out of the dojo gates. Undoubtedly once past the prying eyes Max's pace would get faster, more enthused. Searching for someone will do that to you.

"You've been noticing it too then?"

Kai looked over his shoulder at Ray, now the only two left outside.

"Max sneaking off?"

"Yeah." Ray glanced over to make sure Tyson, Hilary and the Chief had already headed indoors to see what was on Gramps' menu for this evening. "He's pretty determined, isn't he. I just hope Max has the tact to not get seen. Mariam doesn't seem like the kinda girl to take spying nicely."

Kai made a noise of confirmation. "He's half as smart and half as quiet. Here's hoping Max can figure out something we can use to our benefit; or at least his, before he comes home with a broken nose. He's on his own out there right now."

"Very true."

Kai closed his eyes and a slight smirk tugged up the side of the BladeBreaker captain's lip.

"Then again, if she starts throwing punches I don't plan to get in the middle anyways. Max is a big boy; he has to learn to take care of himself."

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><p>Max tripped over the lid of an upturned garbage can and cursed, rubbing at his knee.<p>

"Shit..."

"God Max you'd think you'd have learned to be quiet by now."

"Yeah well, way to pick the one alley in town where it's dark even in the middle of the day Mariam!"

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, tugging him close. "Oh be quiet... It's not so bad. Do they still think you're trying to find out information about the rock?"

"I think so. I know Kai's been watching me; but he hasn't said anything. At some point you know I'm going to have to come back with something; something that proves to them that I'm not just out stalking some pretty girl."

"Ooh, pretty girl?"

"Shut up."

She giggled again. "Yeah I know. Well, you could tell them about the warehouse down by the front. I don't really see the point in trying to hide where we stay anyways; what's Tyson going to do? Break down Ozuma's door with his ego?"

"Ha, ha."

"At least it would show Kai that you're not wasting your time... and it'll make Ozuma wanna keep getting even." The green-eyed blader grinned up at him, winked. "He might send me around more often..."

Max's hands seemed to get a bit greedier, at Mariam's waist pulling her closer.

"When I said 'come back with something', I was thinking more along the lines of a pair of panties. Just so yah know."

There were laughs, and kisses and maybe other things for the brief hour and a half the 'enemies' could find away from their teams at home. There was nothing wrong with stirring the pot a little; especially when it lead to such good results. Because, whether Max was visiting the 'rents or whether Mariam was on a food run, both teams got what they wanted.

Tyson found out where the Saint Shields were hiding out, and Ozuma found out about the BladeBreakers' training methods. Everyone was satisfied.

Especially Max and Mariam.

They got eachother.


	2. B is for Believe

**MS: **Hello again! I told myself I would try my hardest to get a new chapter of this up almost every night; I'm sure I won't make that deadline all the time, but it's nice to dream. Extra nice because these drabbles don't usually take so long. I'd like to that **Iluvbeyblade** for the review left for the first chapter; it fills my heart to know someone's actually reading this after Beyblade's been off the air for so long!

Anyways, just in case she isn't the sole reader of this fic, it would mean a lot to me to see another review or more than one for this chapter! Read on and enjoy.

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><p><strong>B<strong> is for _Believe._

"GO DRACIEL!"

Max raised his fist into the air as Draciel rampaged toward the spinning white blade.

"Not so fast Maxie! COME ON DRAGOON! COUNTER-ATTACK!"

And just like that, it was over. Draciel and Dragoon collided in a rotating fury that seemed to leave Max reeling, but Tyson standing proudly in the center; just where he'd started. Just like that, it was another loss to add to Max's roster.

"Max, man... What's been up with you lately?"

Max didn't answer his friend. He said nothing as he bent and retrieved his green beyblade from the dish, and stared hard at the glistening picture in the middle. 'Draciel... why does this keep happening...?'

Max seemed to be stuck in a three-week slump. At least the worst one of all time. It had started with a weekend scrimmage against the Majestics. Robert had flown the BladeBreakers out personally on his jet, and they'd all been so excited to see their old friends again; to see how much Robert, Enrique, Oliver and Johnny had improved.

Things had been going well. Kai and Johnny had battled fiercely, but as the Majestics already anticipated, Kai came out the victor. He wasn't the team captain just for looks you know. Tyson went up next. That battle was something else too; a lot of wind and a lot of squealing fangirls that set Hilary's teeth on edge. But leave it to Tyson to pull another win out of his hat. He _was_ the world champion, after all. Ray had fought Oliver, and while the bright-haired frenchman was a real challenge, Driger bested him. Max was last. Max and Enrique.

He had no idea what happened.

Maybe it was his ego... maybe he jumped forward on the offensive too early and left himself wide open for Amphilyon's heads to rip him apart. Or maybe he just... sucked. The team had been there to pick him back up, but it didn't really make Max feel better. The loss was embarrassing; he'd seen enough weak beybladers go home with their blades trashed and their head in their hands after five seconds to know it for a fact.

He'd thought that he was definitely a sure bet for the win. Everyone else did too. Enrique didn't appear to even... try his hardest. But it worked. And there was no crying in beyblading, so, Max picked up Draciel and shook the blonde's hand and his team left.

No one really said much to him on the plane ride home. Not that he'd wanted them to. It wasn't some big important battle; none of their lives or bitbeasts were on the line. But it was such a swift defeat that no doubt, it left Max's teammates' heads spinning.

Unlike Draciel.

So here he was.

He looked up at Tyson with a sigh, feeling the pitiful eyes of Ray, Kai, Kenny and Hilary at his back. God, the only thing that could've made that day worse was if-

"Hey... Looks like Tyson won this one huh?"

Max whipped his head around to face her and grit his teeth. ...The only thing that could've made that day in Germany worse was if Mariam had been there to watch him wipe out like a failure.

"Max has just been in... uh, a rough patch lately."

Mariam tilted her head, blinking those bright green eyes of hers. "Oh?"

"I can speak for myself Tyson."

The words left him clipped, and Tyson stepped backward with his hands up in mock defeat. "Okay okay... Sorry, Max." He pocketed Dragoon, then walked past the couple to sit with the other members of the team. Max winced. These past three weeks he'd been an absolute dick and he had proved himself one yet again. _Some champion._

Mariam raised an eyebrow as Tyson and the others slunk back inside the chalet the BladeBreaker team now called home. When she returned her eyes to Max again, the blonde was back to staring at the ground beneath his feet.

"You gonna walk with me?"

Max looked up at her, nodded his head and together the two left the property.

"Where are we going."

"Where would you like to go?"

Max shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't matter."

Mariam fought the urge to sigh. "Beach it is then."

It took another few minutes of awkward silence as the duo made their way toward the less-urbanized part of town. Just like always, as they walked, people stopped and stared and whispered about the great champion out with his girlfriend.

If only Max knew.

When they reached the shorefront Mariam walked him down to a section of gold sand not so far from the water that it wasn't close, yet not so close that it wasn't damp. There she pulled him down and let her fingers linger gently, grazing over the top of his knee.

"Is this about losing to Enrique...?" She watched him through her bangs. Max didn't look like himself. By now, usually, he'd have her pulled to his chest, or an arm around her shoulders... maybe a hand in hers.

"I'm glad you weren't there."

Mariam looked taken aback. Not exactly words she was used to hearing from the boy who crossed entire continents to woo her, brought his friends along for the ride and professed his love daily like some sad romance movie. "Why's that...?"

"Because I'm ashamed. It was like... it was like Draciel didn't even exist. Not even sure the battle lasted an entire minute."

Mariam's eyes widened somewhat. She'd known Max had lost. When they came home and he called, she could tell just by his voice that something had drained him of the puppies and birthday songs you could imagine by just hearing her lover speak. But Mariam didn't think Max had lost so badly.

"Wow... I guess Enrique's been working on his technique."

Max scoffed loudly and sat up straight. "He hasn't changed and neither has his bitbeast Mariam. It was all me. I fucked up, and I lost. I lost like some kid who's been blading for an entire day!"

He didn't seem to want to meet her eyes, so Max couldn't see the way her face had softened. Sometimes she seemed so desperate to impress him, so hard-pressed to hide the emotional core that she let out for two people in her life and two people only: Max and Joseph. If he would stop wallowing in self-despair maybe Max wouldn't caught the way Mariam seemed to ache a little for him.

"You've lost battles before."

"Not like that."

She took a deep breath. Mariam hadn't seen Max this torn up in months. A year. Not since she woke up in her hospital bed back home. And kill her to admit it it might, but she hated seeing Max look so dejected. Fuck she hated seeing him unhappy. And... especially over something so _stupid._

Mariam moved behind him, settled on her knees with her pale arms locked around Max's waist. For a moment she thought he was going to push her away, but then a heavy hand rested on her clasped fists and she pressed a soft smile into the skin of his shoulder. "Everyone loses, Max..."

"Not everyone keeps losing. Because I can't seem to do a damn thing with Draciel ever since that stupid fucking match!" Cursing... '_Max really must be down', _she thought.

"So what."

"So... so what?" Max turned his head over his shoulder with a confused look on his face.

"You lost... and things suck right now." She pressed a little kiss to the back of his neck. "So what."

"Mariam, I'm supposed to be a _world champion!_ How the hell do you think it looks when I can't win now against a guy I fought back when I was fifteen and kicked the shit out of?!" He shook his head, hung it again. Mariam almost wanted to laugh, but she knew that wouldn't end well. It was almost funny... when Max came to her town and begged for her hand, all he kept telling her was that he didn't care what other people thought. He didn't care about her traditions, he didn't care that she was a year older and had plans set out for her by those around her. And he most certainly didn't care that pictures would be snapped of him, holding her, kissing her, everywhere. Even his strict-bitch mother could go get bent, if that meant he could keep her.

Yeah, it was almost funny.

Max kept going. "...I feel like I let everybody down."

Mariam was silent for just awhile. She was no stranger to feeling like the weak one out... the one who was nothing but a hassle. Ozuma, Joseph and Dunga had ridden her ass for weeks when she lost to Max himself, years ago in this very city. No Draciel for her... no victory. Just the realization that he was, then and always would be, better.

"Max you didn't let anybody down. Not Draciel, not your fans... And not your team."

Max lifted his head and took a deep breath of the scent of Mariam and the sea, combined together. For just a moment it was almost enough to make him want to forget his awful mood and enjoy the day. But just for a moment. The hard rock that was Draciel weighed heavily in his pocket.

"Right now, I don't really feel like much of a champion."

"No?"

"No." And just like that, again, Max let his head drift downward until all Mariam could see was the thick bridge of curls that bled into Max's fabulous head of blonde hair at the back of his neck. Again, she was silent. This time though Mariam straightened up a little; looked around the beach. When she spotted was she was looking for, she smiled widely.

"You know, we beg to differ."

Max lifted his head. "We?"

Mariam lifted her hand from beneath his own, and gently thumbed Max's head in the right direction. He blinked, and watched. Hanging over the rails that separated the concrete from the sandy beachline maybe a hundred feet away, a bunch of girls and boys stood and studied them. Watched them and whispered, blushed, clasped their own beyblades in their hands with excited eyes. Their BBA teeshirts, ripcords, maybe even a skateboard with the BladeBreaker logo plastered on it was hard to miss.

"Look at them, Maxie... they don't care that you lost a battle." Max was quiet, watching them, feeling Mari's fingers move up to thread through his hair. "They don't care that you lost way back when, all those years ago. Do you remember losing to Kai, in that first tournament where Mr. Dickenson asked you all to become the BladeBreakers?" Mariam hadn't been there; but she remembered everything Max told her about how they came together. Sometimes she even downloaded the old beyblading specials, the tournament broadcasts of her man. ...Not that she'd tell him that.

"Do you remember that battle, Max...? I think that was the day you got Draciel, wasn't it...?" Max's hand slipped into his pocket, and he fished the green blade from its depths. With Draciel shining in his palm he looked down at her.

"Yeah..."

"I bet you they didn't care that you lost then, either."

Max stared down at his bitbeat sitting in her green piece of home. He remembered that day alright... the way his Grandmother's pendant just fit so perfectly. He'd lost to Kai and didn't make it to the finals... but he'd been so happy just the same.

He sighed and lifted his head. "Yeah, I remember all that. But Mariam, they wouldn't-"

"What? Care about you anymore if they saw you lose to Enrique? Oh, Max..." Now Mariam readjusted her position, sat down with her legs stretched out on either side of him. She rested her chin on the BladeBreaker's shoulder. "It's not your victories that make them so happy. Sure, it helps, but that's not it. And it's not your hair, either; which also helps, but..." She cut herself off to giggle, "the blind faith and belief they have in you comes from how you play the game and grow, change with Draciel and move forward with your team. They believe in you because you believe in yourself, Max... You never give up."

Now Max was quiet for a long time. He visibly thought over the days and nights he spent talking himself and his team out of bad situations; telling Kai that he had this. Making sure Ray knew he was an important part of the team. Letting Tyson know that, no matter what, win or lose... He would always be the best he could be to them.

He sighed. Jesus... what a hypocrite he'd been.

"Yeah... I guess you're right."

Mariam brushed her lips across his freckled cheek, and smoothed her hand through his closed fist. Enclosing her fingers around Draciel's attack ring, she held Max's best friend up in front of his eyes.

"They're not the only ones who believe in you Max."

Draciel seemed to twinkle... at home with him, there. Mourning over a loss that maybe didn't need to be grieved over at all.

Max turned his head enough to just kiss the outside corner of his girlfriend's mouth.

"Mariam?"

"Hm?"

"You believe in me, right?"

"Always."

He couldn't stop the smile spreading across his face if he tried. Moving her arms aside Max stood up, and extended a hand down to his mate still sitting in the sand.

"Good. I'm gonna need it... Me and Tyson have a score to settle. And then me and Enrique. Ever been to Italy?"


	3. C is for Cryptic

**C **is for _Cryptic_

"Look at 'em down there, you'd swear the kid with the glasses was gonna give himself an aneurysm."

Dunga crossed his arms and legs as he leaned back fully against the thick trunk of the tree. As usual, the Saint Shields had picked a bountiful ginkgo to cloak their observations of the BladeBreakers down below. With the champion team still unawares of the plan to take the four sacred beasts, watching them brainstorm ideas was important.

...And also fundamentally hilarious.

"Maybe they're spies..."

Tyson flopped backward on the grassy knoll with his hands behind his head. Eyes aimed upward at the cloudy sky, he too failed to notice the four competitors hidden in the branches of the towering tree.

"Spies? Spies from what Tyson?" Ray sat cross-legged beside him with an amused look on his face. In fact it mirrored Joseph's quite well.

"Maybe from the BBA! I mean it has been over a month since we've heard anything from Mr. Dickenson; you remember what he did to us in Europe?! This could be another master plan of his to keep us all in shape... Paying off hooded freaks to keep us on our toes!"

Dunga made a face. "Why I oughta-"

"Be quiet Dunga; you'll give us away."

"But Ozuma-"

"I said be quiet!"

Mariam rolled her eyes at the familiar day-to-day of her teammates. Having grown up together, bitching at one another was nothing new. In fact she'd planned on pushing Dunga out of this very tree only minutes ago. Swinging her legs slowly from the high branch where she perched, her elbow on her knee and chin in hand, she stared downward at the six people.

Most days they never really got anything of use from all the spying. And today seemed like one of those days, but Ozuma's paranoia could never be put to rest. The four of them had spent vast chunks of their lives preparing for the day that they would encounter the four mystic beasts, and he didn't want to let anything slide that could prove useful.

Though Mari hardly saw the use in Kenny thinking they were actually muggers in disguise.

"Chief that would never happen!"

"Max we didn't think any lunatic would ever use beyblading as a means to take over the world either but look at Kai's Grand-... Sorry Kai I'm sorry!"

Kai opened one eye where he lay beside Ray, hands also behind his head and spout of grass between his lips. Kenny tensed, but... Kai just closed his eye again. The Chief breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Apparently fear of the captain ran deep in the little guy.

"I don't get it, they act like Kai's pulverized people before or something." Joseph looked up at Ozuma. "Think if Kai challenged you to a fight you could take him?"

Ozuma raised an eyebrow. "Why the hell would I care about fighting Kai outside the beystadium?"

Joseph shrugged, "I dunno; could be interesting. I mean you're short and all but Kai's bark could be worse than his bite-"

"Jesus would you shut up Joseph?"

Her little brother grinned. "I'm just foolin' around Sis."

"Well your sister has the right idea Joseph. We're not here to fool around."

Joseph sighed, and the four pairs of eyes returned to the sight below.

Mariam's however couldn't help but be drawn to the same place over and over again.

Max Tate stretched his arms out and up with a yawn.

"Look, I don't think the Saint Shields are spies; and I don't think they're serial killers or muggers either. I mean, Mariam had me alone in an alley; if she wanted to mug me she had the opportunity."

Mariam closed her eyes, but couldn't help the brief smile that crossed her face. She had ideas, in that alley... She wasn't immune to a hot face and muscles; she maybe had a mission but that didn't mean she couldn't look. She just battled Max that day in New York... But if she'd been able to leave the cloak at home she maybe would've worn something a little more suggestive. Max always seemed to get so flustered when he was talking about her or about their team; and Mariam liked it when Max got flustered.

Joseph slid his eyes toward his blue-haired family member. _'There's that look on her face again... I hope Sis knows what she's doing.'_

"I know Max, we're just joking about that kinda stuff." Ray plucked at a few pieces of grass. "I think we're all so bothered just because the Saint Shields are so... they're so intent on being mysterious. Not that most of our enemies aren't, but you've gotta appreciate the ones who just come right out and tell us who they are and what they want."

"Ray's right. Plus, I think it's a little funny that they're sticking around! So obviously they were interested in more than just that first battle with you guys."

Mariam tilted her head a little. That Hilary girl seemed to be plastered to the team's side these days. It didn't really bother her; she seemed more annoying than anything else. Though the way Hilary felt about Tyson was as obvious as Dunga's rage impairment.

The BladeBreakers really did seem determined to figure out what they were up to. ...Anddddd goddamn, Max's hair looked pretty nice in the sunlight.

...Crap.

"Maybe they're not bad guys. I mean they haven't tried to hurt us or anything. So far they haven't tried to steal anything." Max smiled as his far-off gaze faced the other side of the river, a rushing current that separated both sides of the city and a mirrored bank of grass. Mariam internally smirked.

_'Oh Maxie... You have no idea.'_

Ozuma crossed his arms.

"Wrong about that one, Max."

Joseph looked up at his standing leader again. "Hey techhhhhnically; if we challenge 'em to a beybattle for their bitbeasts and they lose it's not stealing!"

He had a point there. But it was also a good thing the entire BladeBreakers team appeared absolutely deaf, because Mari's brother was usually a lot more tactful than this.

The blonde BladeBreaker on the ground started to crack his knuckles, that same smile on his face. He seemed to be doing the act almost unconsciously. "I'd love to be friends with them. Not competitors, not enemies... Just actual friends. That Mariam was an awesome beyblader; I bet we could learn a lot from eachother."

Joseph looked at his sister again. But this time the smile had faded from her face.

Her green eyes were staring hard at the youngest BladeBreaker, her teeth visibly set inside her jaw. Whatever Max had said, it somehow struck a chord with Joseph's older sister. In a world where they didn't have this mission, Joseph would've had no problem with being friends with them; just so happens that Tyson, Kai, Ray and Max were the unlucky four who possessed ticking time bombs inside their blades. So he wasn't exactly sure what could've pissed Mariam off so much.

Well... Joseph had a fair idea, but Ray blurted it out before he could.

"You sure that's all you wanna be with Mariam, Max? Friends?" The Chinese blader grinned at his blonde buddy, pointed canines damn near glinting in the sun.

Max's cheeks turned fifty shades of red.

"I... Be quiet Ray, go call Mariah!"

Now that brought Tyson sitting straight up, Ray laughing like he had undeniably 'won this one' and Joseph's sister... a little more stiff where she sat beside him.

"Are you serious Max? Do you like that girl?!"

"No Tyson! It has nothing to do with that... I just think it'd be awesome to battle her again. She obviously knew a lot of tricks that I didn't because she kicked my ass..."

"Sure sure Max. Whatever. I'm sure you want to be her 'friend' because she can pull a ripcord through a launcher; not because her legs go on forever." Ray's cheeky grin deserved to be punched right off his overly smug face. And by god, Mariam wanted to.

"Ray I swear..."

Ray laughed again. "I'm just kidding Max. I know what you mean."

"Yeah, because I was about to credit your 'friendship' with Mariah to her D-cups."

Hilary was slamming her hands over her ears in a nanosecond. "UGH! GUYS! Female counterpart here?!"

Tyson laughed a belly laugh while even Kai cracked a smirk. Kenny's face had turned beet red and clearly he was having a hard time keeping the giggles in. Ozuma rolled his eyes.

"Oh for fuck's sake."

"Blondie-boy must be blind if he thinks Mariam's pretty..."

Mariam leaned over and punched Dunga in the thigh hard enough to bruise for a good few days, then crossed her own arms and sat there with a pissed off look on her face. Joseph could tell... It was easy, really; he knew Mariam better than anyone. And Max's infatuation wasn't exactly disguised up until now to her, either. Joseph just hoped that the little twit had more reasons than his sister's... legs... to be interested in her. Because... Yeah.

Ray's head dipped downward, but he didn't get angry at Max; nor did he make it better for himself. "I'm not friends with Mariah because of her boobs... But I'm not saying they don't help her case."

That got a good laugh out of all the guys. Mariam rolled her eyes and Hilary shook her head.

Soon, as the chuckles died down and Ray received a friendly punch to the arm from Tyson, Max continued.

"But, seriously... I do like Mariam. And I like her for her technique. I think if we had the chance to talk more, I might get past the whole hood-wearing side of her; maybe find out what the Saint Shields really want. You guys have gotta admit; all that mystery really adds to their power. It works for them."

Kai opened his eyes and slanted them towards the blonde.

"The idea of them sneaking around and watching us might be alluring Max, but that kind of shit only happens in movies. For now their presence is a thing that has to be taken seriously; they could be up to anything."

Ozuma, Dunga and Joseph, for the first time, let themselves have a chuckle at Kai's expense. It wasn't because what the dual-toned boy said was funny. Mostly, because his words were ironic. They really had no idea down there, just what they were about to face.

Mariam looked down at Max again, just in time for Max to open his mouth and speak.

"I know... But they aren't hurting anybody. And... I guess I like a bit of mystery."

Joseph shook his head with a chuckle. "It won't be a mystery for much longer, will it Mariam?" Sadly, that little smile had made its way back onto his sister's face.

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><p><strong>MS: <strong>And there's chapter three. Thanks again to **Iluvbeyblade **for being my only reviewer! :) At least you make this worth writing :P

As a side note, in case anyone is actually listening, I'm wondering about the possibility of starting a two-person Beyblade roleplay. Possibly done over skype because it has a good messaging system; but no webcams involved. I have a few fic ideas I would love to run through with someone. If anyone is interested please send me a PM!

Thanks everyone :)


	4. D is for Dew

**MS: **Hello everyone :) Here is the next installment. I didn't get any response to my inquiry about a roleplay partner, so I'll ask again! I do have to make sure that no one is getting the wrong idea about what I'm asking; so if you're curious, just send me a quick message.

Anyways, I hope I get a few reviews for this chapter guys... Because the next chapter I have is my favorite one that I've written so far! :) So sit back, read and enjoy **D.**

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><p><strong>D<strong> is for _Dew_

Max turned over in his slumber. When he didn't collide with a second body, his pale hand found itself searching in the dark, feeling for what should've been right beside him. But the mattress was vacant, almost cool now as the form that once slept next to him had long gotten up.

Raising that same hand with a silent, mouth-gaping yawn, Max rubbed at his eyes. As the sheets fell down past his chest the coldness of an empty room tickled at his arms, his shoulders. Sitting up, he stared blurry-eyed at the empty side of the bed.

_'Where is- Oh, right... Her Aunt asked her to get up early this morning, work out the new horse.'_

Max yawned again, a little more peace of mind now that he knew where his lover had gone to. No matter how many nights he spent in Mariam's home town, he always seemed to wake up and wonder just where he was and where she was when he opened his eyes in the morning. So unused to this, because when Mariam stayed with him in New York or Japan, she was always there; pressed to his chest, his back or his side when he woke up.

Max wasn't used to getting up alone.

The blonde boy pushed himself out of Mariam's bed, a tiny twin; a size too small for two people, definitely. Catching the digital glow of the clock's red numbers, Max looked at the bedside table and frowned.

_'6:30 AM... Wow. She really must've been up with the birds.'_

He walked slowly toward her window, the recent weeks of training (that and the fact that he was still half-asleep) had done well to make his muscles sore and stiff; a sign that the BladeBreakers had been doing well to get back into shape for the next world championships. In fact, later on today Max had to go back to the airport and return home to see his Dad.

Mornings before they had to separate were always a little bittersweet... In fact, Max wasn't surprised that she'd happily agreed to go out this morning and do a few of the chores. Mariam hated their last day together; she always seemed to be melancholy over it. Maybe waking up before him gave her the opportunity to steel herself towards the inevitable.

Max didn't blame her; he hated knowing that it was going to be weeks before they saw eachother again as badly as she did.

Max yawned yet again, shook his head and flipped a hand up through his matted hair. It was still dark outside, for christ's sake... Life really did start early here. Upon closer inspection however, as he came to his mate's window, he could see outside that things were in that magical stage where it was neither dark nor light but a delicate mixture between the two as the sun slowly advanced higher into the sky. Right now the land was still claimed by the deep blues of darkness, and he could just make out her shape as she carried a bucket from the family barn to a waiting paddock and a flicking mane and tail.

Soon the warm yellows and pinks of morning would cut a final swath through the blackness, and another day would begin.

He wiped at his eyes once more, and then carefully unlatched Mariam's bedroom window. As Max slowly pushed open the panes of glass, he leant againt the frame and watched her from above. It seemed like so much of their relationship had been spent watching eachother, just studying.

How odd, that that seemed to work so well for them.

Max always believed that people only show their true selves when they were alone. Completely and irrevacobly alone. So, naturally, he discovered a lot of things about his girlfriend by watching her as she practiced with her team, brushed her hair, took a day off, slept through the morning... Maybe he learned as much about her as the Saint Shields did spying on his team three years back.

Below the window ledge, Mariam stopped at the white fencing of her family's paddock. No one in Heart's Content owned a lot of land; but no one seemed to be without any either. She clicked her tongue, and soon the soft padding of hooves came to greet her at the side.

Max watched as her pale hand rubbed gently against the horse's chestnut nose. Despite her brash words and ruthless beyblading style Mariam really was a softie; for him, her brother, animals, and basically anyone who really needed her to be. He smiled; her skin was the next whitest thing compared to the fenceline.

With seconds ticking by the sun rose higher and higher into the clear sky, shedding more light across the land. Max didn't call out to Mariam... he just watched as the blues of her hair, the twinkle of her eye became easier to make out against the glimmer of wetness on the grass, the tree leaves. Even this early in the morning, in an old pair of sweat pants and a stained tank top, his girl was a sight to see. A slow smile spread across his face.

Soon Mariam raised the bucket and emptied it into a metal trough over the fencing, letting the animal have at what was most definitly a promising breakfast. He didn't seem to waste anytime digging into whatever had poured out of that bucket, and Max found himself wondering if it was sugar cubes or oats. Horses liked those things, didn't they...?

Okay, so; he'd never been on a horse. Or on a farm, up until about a year ago. And if it wasn't for being so goddamn desperate to measure up to Mariam's makeshift family, he probably would've made a complete ass of himself on his first trip to town. He and everyone else he dragged with him.

But Mariam didn't seem to mind. In fact, no one did. For a village with such proud traditions, important things to hide... Everyone took Max and his friends into their homes with open arms.

The sound of Mariam gasping brought him out of his daydreams, and he leaned further out the window.

A fine shiver seemed to shoot right down Mariam's back and she patted at the top of her spine, her neck. Looking up at the tall pine that bordered the paddock, she groaned softly. Sometimes, on cloudless nights like these there was such a temperature difference between day and night that when you woke up the next morning absolutely everything was covered in condensation.

Another couple drops fell to her flesh and she squeaked; darted out from under the pliable branches. Max almost giggled.

Almost. Only now, as the sun drew nearer to reaching its final peak in the sky... The land seemed to come alive.

Every drop of wetness on every blade of grass, what clung to the horse's lips after a drink, the beads collected on the pine needles, every ounce of morning dew began to gleam. He widened his eyes and drank in a sight so very different from the ones he could see back home. No streetlights, no horns blaring, no tall brick buildings in the way;... Nothing but a thousand tiny houses and wild yards with few lights on, but all the welcome in the world, faced him now. A curvy path that couldn't seem to make up its mind, bending outward until it stopped at the border of the sea.

It was beautiful, really. He'd known that the first time he visited; but this... This was different. The only thing that could really come close to the peaceful feel of Heart's Content were the Chinese villages they'd passed on the way to Hong Kong so many years ago, the places near to where Ray grew up.

He took a deep breath in of a smell so different from home; so varied and so clean, before looking back down at Mariam. She had taken to leaning against one of the house's tall supporting columns, a bottle of water in her hand.

He smirked.

Looking down at the dew gathered on the windowsill and along the edges of the plastic, he grinned. Perfect shot.

Max used the side of his hand to gather the cool liquid, then pushed it to the edge... And watched as the miniscule drops of dew fell straight down Mariam's head and back.

She squealed as the cold liquid made contact with her skin, soaked down through her pinned up hair and craned her neck upward to meet the grinning face of her beloved.

"Do you know how cold that is...?!"

Max laughed softly. "I _am_ standing in your open window with no shirt on; I can kinda tell."

Mariam gave a sarcastic grin and shook her head. Only Max.

She sighed and looked back at the horse standing tall and proud in his pen, watching them now.

"It's really pretty here in the mornings."

She looked back up at him. "Yeah, I guess it is."

Max wasn't about to tell her that the way the dewdrops shined on her hair was even better.

"You coming back to bed?"

"Yeah..."

The word left her lips softly, he almost didn't hear it. Again he was reminded that today, he was leaving.

"Okay."

At least he knew he could bank that memory away for himself, like so many others that he revisited everyday. Mariam, the morning, the land and her hair shining... Yeah.

It might be small, and it might be simple; but it was still something.


	5. E is for Ecstasy

**MS: **I think this is my favorite chapter to date. Why is pretty obvious; everyone loves it when the action gets a little R-rated! ;) But it's also a chapter pretty heavy on emotion, for those who love the fluff. I noticed I didn't get any reviews for last chapter, so I'm hoping this will inspire some people. Enjoy!

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><p><strong>E <strong>is for _Ecstasy_

It was so easy and after everything they just... Lost themselves.

They were young; they weren't supposed to be doing this.  
>They were educated; Max especially. The two of them knew better.<br>They weren't... Allowed to be.

Allowed to happen.

Like most relationships- real ones, not reality-deprived romance movie couples;... Max and Mariam had started with brief flirtation. It dated a year ago to the day when she first challenged Max to that battle in New York City.

Hey; it's always once upon a time in NYC. Or so the saying goes.

It grew from there when the SaintShields attempted to seal the four sacred bitbeasts. Little taunts, following eachother around, battling and arguing and trying to be friends when one was too attached and the other too loathe to admit it. That was how they started.

After the third world championships of Max's career he saw her there, with the rest of them. She'd been cheering him on. Well, he imagined that the SaintShields had been cheering on all of the BladeBreakers; but he only saw her scream _his_ name.

Racing feet down a hallway, trying to evade the press, catching her before she left and asking to see her again.

It never went very far.

Mariam told him she was happy for him; and proud, but then left anyways.

So another year passed by. And he didn't see her at all.

As the fifth world championships loomed in the distance, Max was eighteen and still the youngest of his team. Reunited to take the world by storm. And they'd kept winning; the BladeBreakers were nigh unbeatable.

But still, there was something Max didn't have. Something that had left him behind and he wanted it.

Sure, there had been girls. There had been girls for all of them. Not that he'd ever let his parents or the BBA find out. In the public eye, after all, you had to be perfect. And a lot of younger kids liked to blade, so the BBA wanted its registered teams to appear chaste, approachable, well-mannered and upstanding.

Ray, Tyson and Kenny really were; except for Tyson's eating habits. And Ray had Mariah. So he didn't stray, no matter how many times they could all tell he saw a pretty girl and thought about it. He loved Mariah. Distance sucked; but not being able to see her, Ray always said_, 'that would suck more.' _Tyson also had Hilary around to keep him straight. And the way she felt about him was so obvious that no one doubted she wouldn't mess around with some other guy anyways. Kenny had been working with Max's mom and the BBA part-time, so he found himself around Emily a lot more. And then around her a lot more after work. And then... yeah. They were cute as hell; even Max would admit that.

Kai, though, had no girlfriend to speak of. But he was male, and that alone was enough to send him out the door every now and again. He was really picky over who he chose; he usually stuck with the ones who were smart enough to get up the next morning and leave without being too gaga over the fact that she just slept with Kai Hiwatari. But Max and a few of the other guys couldn't help but notice that he was especially sweet to Salima whenever the teams ran into eachother again.

Max, now... He liked nice girls. And he thought that maybe he would find a nice girl and keep her around.

None of them seemed to make the cut.

So, after a few fun nights that luckily stayed out of the press, he resigned himself to the fact that... Until he had her, he wasn't going to be satisfied.

Boy was he right.

It was a love hard-fought, sorely won; and by sore, he meant hospital beds and things he never thought he was capable of. Ancient traditions, small towns, competitors and of course, the year wouldn't of been complete without an evil organization who stepped over the line. Add a few heroic acts that cemented the BladeBreaker's bonds with the Saint Shields for good, and defying the odds, Max and Mariam were able to work.

Maybe they were a bit more like a movie than he originally thought.

So naturally, when they finally got eachother into bed... It was worth it. It had been pressured, a little; he'd probably blush just trying to explain it, so he never tried. Everyone knew anyways. And that just made it even more awkward, gearing himself up for that moment. But fuck... he would never regret it.

There had been girls; but then there had been Mariam.

It was her first time, and he knew that but he still found himself somewhat surprised when it hurt. But things were different, where she came from. Not everyone necessarily agreed with it, but things worked there; and so the Saint Shields obeyed the rules.

What Max remembered most about that night, huddled in the apartment she shared with her brother, Ozuma and Dunga, was how... right it felt. And she would go on to tell him later that she was never as sure of anything as she was that night. She'd given up a lot to be with him, and he had to jump through more than a few hoops to prove himself. But it was what they wanted.

It happened in her tiny bed, and they both sort of knew that Ozuma had ushered the guys out to give them time to do this. And Max had to be gentle because she'd been through a lot as of late. But when they got started, and skin met skin that Max had only dreamt about... things got a little faster, a little harder. A little more passionate than either of them had been prepared for.

He smiled at the memory; he was pretty sure Ozuma, Joseph and Dunga bunked with Tyson, Kai and Hilary that night to escape any and all noise. Ray was with Mariah; Kenny slept over with Emily.

There, every issue a tasteful professional beyblader was taught to avoid was out in the open and in your face. And they didn't have to hide anything. Kane had said that he wouldn't mind going back to stay with the Saint Shields for a month every summer for the rest of his life.

Max had the right idea, dragging them there... As it turned out, it was what everyone needed, not just himself.

But enough about them; back to that night.

He remembered his hands. They shook a lot less than what he expecting. Yeah he wasn't a virgin, but... Mariam made him nervous. All the time, every second of the day. So he was expecting it to be as awkward as the build-up.

It wasn't.

Her hands didn't really know where to go, what to do. And again he was surprised; because he knew she was a virgin but he also knew Mariam leaked sex appeal like Tyson leaked noxious gas. She fumbled a little, but, once she got comfortable with him they seemed to move as one. His fingertips to hers, lips, legs... It was perfect.

He remembered the hair. That stuck out in his mind because that was quite possibly the only thing that he knew of that turned Mariam into a soft, purring, languid kitten. When he started running his hands through her long, blue waves Max knew the world could ask for anything out of Mariam and she would give it. But for him, it was something that he hated fangirls touching. He had one girl go so nuts over his head that during sex she actually ripped a handful of his blondeness right out; and that had sucked.

But he loved it when Mariam put her hands there and held on. He loved it when she pulled. But mostly, he loved it when, _after_... He put his head there on her chest to hear her heart beating and she just kept running her hands through it.

Oh, and he'd never forget that Mariam's oceanic locks were a lot of fun to wrap a fist around; but it was awhile before he got that gutsy.

Max closed his eyes, finding that that helped drown out the sounds around him.

The last thing Max would never forget was, in typical guy fashion... their endings. Her face, her voice, the way she cried out for him it was almost beautiful enough to make him all geared up to go again-

"Max? Max. Babe wake up."

He felt something nudge him in the ribs and he blinked open his eyes. For a moment he was almost a little downhearted; those had been some seriously good memories.

"The movie's almost halfway through, come on you're not gonna know what happens."

Max looked at her tucked into his side and smiled lazily. Hilary laughed over her shoulder where she sat on the floor with Tyson and Mariah giggled beside Mariam.

"Geeze Max, we know the sex scene in this movie is bad but it shouldn't of put you to sleep!" Kenny laughed at Emily's remark and handed his lover the popcorn.

Salima said nothing but she smiled at him. Kai had the remote held out beside her where she leaned against his chest on the smaller sofa. They were both quiet; that was why they worked so well.

"Can Kai un-pause it now Max?"

He looked in Ray's direction and yawned. "Yeah, sorry guys. Go for it. I'm awake now!"

Mariam kissed his cheek and snuggled in closer.

Yeah, the sex scene in the movie was downright awful... Horror movies; what did you expect.

But clearly, that was all it took.


	6. F is for Formalities

**F** is for _Formalities_

"They'd never let you do it, you know."

Her brother's voice drew her out of her own mind, and Mariam looked at him through the rails of the warehouse staircase.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb... I know you know what I'm talking about."

Mariam looked away from him, counting the stains of rust on the wall.

Joseph sighed and hoisted himself up on an old wooden crate.

"It sucks Mari, trust me; I know. We all know. But you never should've let yourself walk into this."

Her head whipped back in his direction.

"I didn't walk into _anything._ I really wish you would stop giving me shit over something that doesn't exist." She pushed her bangs back out of her eyes, and in untypical fashion for Mariam she drew her knees to her chest and held them there. Joseph shook his head. She really had no idea how obvious she was making it.

"Yeah, right; so that _wasn't_ your headband on Max's arm we saw walking home?"

She clenched her teeth.

"He was hurt. I didn't know our mission included being cruel."

"It doesn't... But it does have a few fine lines. And," her little brother sighed again, "Ozuma would kill me for saying this; but our mission aside... I think you know you can't exactly bring him home."

Mariam threw up her arms in exasperation. No matter how hot she knew her face really was and no matter how sweaty her palms had gotten, she had to make Joseph understand. There was nothing going on between her and Max... Mariam was no idiot; she wasn't some love-struck fan. She wanted his bitbeast... And when she got it, she was going to forget the plucky little blonde ever existed.

_Yeah... _Maybe if she said it to herself enough times it just might become the truth.

"I'm just telling you because I care about you Sis... You know I do."

Mariam looked back at her little brother from the curtain of her hair. Stupid Joseph, stupid Max; if she had her headband, she wouldn't be having such a goddamn bad hair day. If she had her headband, maybe she could've avoided this awkward-ass scenario.

The sight of Joseph down there, sitting with his head in his hand as he looked up at her... It was almost sad. She knew her family home had rules; she knew those rules were the same for almost everyone in the village with a few unhappy exceptions. It made Mariam feel guilty. He was plagued by the same inevitable fate as she... He just had an extra year to enjoy his freedom. They were young now... Young, free. But that wouldn't last forever.

Shaking her head, Mariam couldn't help but scoff a little. She was only sixteen; anything she felt for Max was stupid young glamorized attraction. Probably because of those damn blue eyes, or the shiny hair... Whatever it was; it was nothing. It had to be nothing. Something that would inevitably end, as soon as she took Draciel from him.

He would never look her in the eyes again, that was for sure.

"Don't get stubborn Mariam." Her brother rolled his eyes, closed them. "I'm just telling you the truth."

"I know, Joseph. I know. But there really is nothing going on between me and Max. And there-... There never will be."

Joseph opened his eyes at the pause, as Ozuma and Dunga slipped in through the side door of the warehouse.

Ozuma looked between the two siblings, saw not one but two grave faces as he set a few grocery bags on the floor. "What's going on...?"

Mariam turned her face away, straightened out her legs and crossed them at the ankles; along with her arms. Joseph sat up straight on the box and cracked his knuckles.

"Nothing."

Dunga raised an eyebrow and laughed. Mariam and Joseph were some of the worst liars he'd ever seen. "Ya know, when Ozuma's the new clan leader you just might have to stop lyin' to him."

This time it was Joseph who grit his teeth. He flicked his eyes at his team captain, expecting a groan. Instead Ozuma was staring at his sister, up on the next floor. Staring at the turned-away side of her face.

Not being able to hide things from Ozuma was what Joseph worried about the most.

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><p><strong>MS: <strong>Finally got around to updating PIT. I was hoping for a few more reviews in the meantime, but I think it might finally be time that I admit to saying the Beyblade fandom isn't much like what it used to be. I guess yaoi has taken over the world! Lol. If you're interested at all in what's going on in this chapter, feel free to drop me a line. And go check the poll at my profile. Thanks, whoever's out there!


	7. G is for Green

**G **is for _Green_

Mariam loved all the colors of the rainbow. Some more than others, some less; but she felt like every facet of color was special in its own way.

She wore blue the most, probably; blue and black.  
>When the shade of pink was pale enough and reminded her of bubble gum, she loved that too.<br>Browns were a largely undervalued color, in Mariam's opinion. The right shade of brown could make people look enchanting.  
>Yellow was bright and she didn't wear it often; she preferred a lighter shade of gold.<br>Red was sexy, but not for lipstick. Red lipstick made girls look like clowns to her.  
>Purple was a 'whatever's clever' color. There was a shade of purple appropriate for everything.<br>White sundresses were beautiful.  
>Grey sometimes got the better of her because some grey things were understated and pretty, and made her think of that big wool sweater her mother had left her. But other shades of grey made Mariam think someone was trying too hard to fade into the background of the world.<br>Orange was one of the founding colors of her clan. They didn't wear it much anymore, now; it was a color reserved for holidays, that special week in June and-... And Max's pants.

She sighed as she watched her boyfriend sign another autograph from her position on the park bench. Seeing the orange shade of Max's shirt made the edges of her lips turn up into a smile. Shirt, pants... Max wasn't a conventional dresser by any means.

Sure, he didn't dress as out there as Ray did or as 'fabulously' as the Majestics.

But Max certainly didn't bring with him New York's grungey greys and blues that you saw so frequently dressing the streets.

Even now, sometimes, Mariam would see Max reach for a shirt that was as bright as his hair and she'd cringe. God, he had no idea that orange and green didn't go together. Even right now her man was dressed in a deep orange shirt and a pair of green cargo pants that would look absolutely absurd on anyone else.

Max grinned at the little girl as she hugged his signed picture to her chest and then ran back to her. He shook a man's hand, signed something for him too.

Yeah, orange and green would look absolutely looney on anybody else but Max.

She rested her chin in her hand and continued to watch him. So many times Mari had sat down, laid down, just like this and wondered just what made those colors look so damn perfect on him. The rest of the AllStarz team dressed pretty normally; Ray was the only outlandish dresser on the BladeBreakers, and that get-up was important to his people.

But Max had no excuse for the brightness he chose to sport, almost every day.

She hadn't even known she was miles away before Max clapped a hand over her shoulder.

"Welcome back to planet earth!"

She looked up at him and blinked. "Oh, sorry...," She chuckled. "Just thinking."

"About what?" He sat down beside her.

Mariam watched the sunlight gleaming on that head of blonde hair and couldn't help but smile. "I was thinking that maybe we should go shopping."

"Shopping?" Mariam nodded, but a sudden grin had sprung onto Max's face and he stuffed a hand into the pocket of those god-awful green pants. "Before you decide that we have to go shopping, I actually have something for you."

Mariam raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Close your eyes!"

She couldn't help but grin, a little laugh escaping her as Mariam did as she was told. She felt Max lift up her hand, roll up the black sleeve of her sweater as far as her elbow and cuff the material there.

"What are you doing?"

"Just gimme a second." She could hear the smile in his voice and again it made her giggle. Max was always so damn happy.

"Alright..." She felt some tugging at her wrist; something pulled tight for just a moment, then loosened and Max was fooling around there.

"...Okay. Open your eyes."

Mariam opened her eyes and let out an amused gasp. She'd figured whatever Max was tying around her wrist had to be a bracelet... But she didn't think the interwoven threads would look so nicely together.

"Max..." The bracelet was clearly spun loosely, not too tight. Each strand was a different color, but only four made up the entire length. Two of the strands were thicker and they were made of a leather-like material; one black, one green. And what bordered the leather weavings were another two strands of thread in orange, and blue. The colors intersected and criss-crossed in all the right places to make the pattern absolutely beguiling to the eye.

"I know those colors don't really go together... But I made the shopkeeper retie it and retie it until I liked the way they looked." He swallowed roughly and looked at his girlfriend's face nervously. "I hope you like it... There's orange and green for me, and blue and black for you. I know they're your favorites."

Mariam held up her wrist to glimpse the glowing mixture in the sun.

The green walk of leather shined the brightest.

"I think it's beautiful... And they go together perfectly."

"Good; kinda like me and you?"

She laughed.

"Just like me and you."

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><p><strong>MS: <strong>That's the next little installment of Max and Mari. :) The next chapter is ready as well, if I get a few reviews for this one I'll post it later! Reminder guys: go take my poll and let me know if anyone is interested in a Beyblade roleplay! NOT cosplay... Roleplaying. Lol HUGE difference.


	8. H is for Hollow

**H** is for _Hollow_

The fact that there was nothing he could do... That's what bothered him the most.

The motherfucker had gotten away, he'd looked Max _right in the face..._ And then he got away.

Max played with Mariam's fingers, stared at the cracked black nail polish that had been perfect before the Saint Shields left. Her pale skin was so stark. Even against his own, and Max wasn't exactly the darkest member of his team. His eyes followed the nimble fingers, up past the knuckle, over her wrist and paused at the center of her arm.

So many tubes, so many beeping machines.

He kept going until he'd reached her shoulder, pausing before he looked at her any further. He didn't want to see her this way.

Her beautiful face... So empty. Max would've given _anything _to see her open those eyes just one more time. To hear her speak... Anything. He would give anything.

Max hadn't left the room, not much. He went out when he saw her doctors or her nurses talking about something, and he let Joseph throw him out when he wanted a moment with his big sister.

Ozuma and Dunga usually let him stay inside, so he did. He held one hand and Ozuma held the other.

No one else was getting him out of that room. No one else until the day came that Max could do something about this.

His mom cried and begged him. His dad held his shoulder and kept saying _'I'm sorry Max, I'm so sorry.' _Hiro didn't really look him in the eyes, but Max saw him cry into his little brother's hug.

Even in such dire circumstances, Max suddenly found himself smiling and shaking his head.

How fucking ironic... How messed up was it, that this kind of shit could happen here. How totally screwy it was that it happened to her, of all people. Max knew better... God, they all knew better. But they still let the Saint Shields go.

Still, those bereaved statements of anger at the world weren't what kept Max smiling. Mostly, it was the fine irony that all of his life, Max had decided to look on the bright side. All of his life, he'd tried his hardest to be a good kid. And in the last year he'd been trying to be a good man. Max woke up in the mornings when the sun was shining and had a grin on his face all day; if it was raining, he shrugged his shoulders and saw it as an excuse to stay inside with the guys and force them to bond. His parents spent a lot of time apart, but he never let that bother him either; Max always looked so forward to the days when Judy and Taro were together that he barely even noticed their distance anymore. When he won the World Championships alongside his best friend, well that was just another glorious day in Max Tate's world.

Fuck, the irony.

Max had spent everyday believing in righting wrongs and being the best person he could be. How ironic, that evil seemed to have a permanent place in his life. How messed up, that _her _life was perfect... Until he came along. He just wanted her, so, so much.

He really couldn't help but ask 'god' why. He'd never considered himself religious, but he did believe in heaven and being a good person; he knew Mariam did, too.

What the fuck did they ever do to deserve this...? All he wanted to bring into Mariam's life was love.

He didn't want _this._

Yes... It was ironic, indeed. She had days left at the most, maybe a week, but Max could do nothing until the final round of the tournament. Smiling, happy, ball-of-sunshine Max Tate who could cheer you up on your worst possible day, could do... Nothing.

_'So this is what it feels like to be empty inside...'_

Because if she died, that was exactly how he was going to be.

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><p><strong>MS:<strong> Ooooh :) So this one takes a darker turn! Again guys these drabbles are little snippets I've sorta removed from the story I wrote in my head, so if there's something you're interested in please don't hesitate to ask me in a review or to message me. Also: go check the poll at my profile! Seriously. Thanks guys!


	9. I is for Ignore

**MS: **Hey guys this is probably another one of my favorite chapters :) I just really like how Max's attitude comes across here; it's really reminiscent of his happy-all-the-damn-time charm in season 1. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Reviewreviewreview and I'll have another for you tomorrow night :) Thanks! Ps; got check out the poll on my profile! Story-related!

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><p><strong>I <strong>is for _Ignore_

"I think you've been ignoring me."

Mariam looked up from her spot on the sloping riverside knoll and blinked.

Oh no... Not again.

"Hey, Max... No. No, I haven't."

"Are you sure? Because as soon as you guys gave up trying to take the bitbeasts, you stopped coming around. Even when I saw you on the streets you were always busy or you ducked into some shop or disappeared."

"Not me nope."

Max smiled that smile that only Max Tate had and heaved himself down onto the grassy hill beside her. Mariam sighed, let her fingertips rap against the spread pages of her novel in her lap.

"See, I really thought you were ignoring me Mariam because we saw you during the tournament too and at the BBA luncheons and everytime I tried to get your attention, you took off somewhere."

Mariam closed her eyes to keep in the second sigh, then opened them again to end up staring at the brightness of the sun overhead.

"Avoiding. The word you're looking for is _avoiding_. You meant to say I've been avoiding you Max, not ignoring you."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, and I haven't been; I haven't been.. Avoiding you."

Lies, of course.

"Then why did you drag your team out so fast when I was calling out to you at the victory dinner after we won against King and Queen?"

"Iiiiiiiii had to pee."

"You took the guys with you to pee? Well, alright, I guess if that's what you're into then-"

"MAX."

"What?"

Mariam groaned out loud in frustration. He watched her, and luckily she didn't catch that little grin tugging up the corner of Max's mouth. She was too fun to play with... But he did want answers. They didn't know how long the SaintShields were going to be around, or even if they'd taken up residence in Beycity Japan for good.

She gestured to the book siting atop her crossed legs.

"I'm trying to read here."

"Whatcha readin'?"

God this kid was friggen unstoppable. Admitting defeat to Max at the amusement park that day... That had been hard enough. Mariam's fingers stilled atop the inked pages of her book. She knew inside that she'd been no match for him... God, with that face and those skills and his big blue eyes-

She cursed and shoved her bookmark inbetween the spread pages.

"Jesus? You're reading a book called Jesus? I think it's actually called the Bible Mariam."

She just wanted to hang her head. Fuck he made it hard to hate him... He made it so hard to not want to fall into those eyes and take pure unadulterrated enjoyment out of every moment he wanted to spend with her.

Max had more power outside the dish than he knew about.

If she didn't avoid him... Things were going to go farther inside her heart than she was ready to deal with. And she had no future... Not with him.

Sighing, she closed the book cover to cover and pushed herself up off the bankside.

"Where you goin'?"

No answer.

"Mariam?" He watched her turn her back to him and begin to climb the small embankment.

Still nothing. Not one to be left behind, Max scrambled to his feet and began to head up after her.

"Mariam? Why won't you talk to me? Hey? Hellooooo?"

"_Ignoring_ Max I'm ignoring you now."

Max rubbed at the back of his head. "I really don't get the difference..."

She cringed. God, the cute look that was probably on his face right now...

"Nevermind Max. Look I gotta head back okay." She did, didn't she...? They were leaving soon... Heading back to Canada. Just a few more days there to watch the final outcome of the championships.

"Yeah... Alright. But Mariam?"

She paused. This was going to be a mistake, she just knew it.

"What."

"You can _try_ to avoid me, and _try _to ignore me all you want; but that's not going to change the fact that everytime you walk away all you do is give me a great view of your ass."

...WHAT?

Mariam whipped around just in time for Max's echoing laugh to reach her eardrums. He was jogging in the opposite direction now, and he stuck an arm up behind him. "See ya Mariam! I'll find you later!"

She just stood there.


	10. J is for Justification

**MS: **Dark!Max. Intense.

* * *

><p><strong>J <strong>is for _Justification_

Apparently they called it an accident; just like the others.

No one would come under any fault. Max had to answer questions for the police, and he was sure that somewhere along the line his parents and Mr. Dickenson and probably all the other higher-ups of the BBA had to pay a few people off. But that whirlwind was kept as far away from Max's ears as possible. '_We'll deal with it', _Hiro said.

Because that shit was no accident and everyone fucking knew it.

Not the crowds... Not the magazines. Not the endless leagues of fans who sent him sympathetic passages through email or wrote on the BBA's profile page for him. Everyone in Heart's Content knew; but the town had its own vow of secrecy. The Global BBA branches didn't have to worry about them uttering anything; in fact, the residents of that small community had probably let them in on a much bigger secret. A much more dangerous secret. Now, what happened...

His team knew.  
>The White Tigers knew.<br>The AllStarz knew.  
>The Majestics knew.<br>The Demolition Boys knew.  
>The Psykicks knew.<br>Barthez Battalion knew.  
>BEGA knew.<br>F-Dynasty knew.

His parents, the coaches, the town, andddd the Saint Shields knew.

Telling Mariam after she woke up, that had been the hardest part.

But he couldn't help himself. Staring eye to eye and the stuff that came out of that fucker's mouth... Max knew things were going to end badly. In fact, he wanted them to.

Max wanted to see him choke on his own blood.

He looked down at her, nestled into his side. She slept so much... Apparently nerves weren't easy to repair and surgery wasn't a get-up-and-go-in-a-week sort of deal. At least, not hers. But that was fine, he wanted her to get her rest... Max wanted to be a better man, every time she opened her eyes; just a small measure of better.

A lot of people had sacrificed things for him. For them, for all of them. And that attempt at '_saving the world' _had ensured that no good deed went unpunished.

He was silent as he brushed some blue strands of hair out of her eyes, then re-tucked the blanket to cover her shoulders. He liked being here... He didn't want to leave this place until she was better. But apparently that... Wouldn't happen. Even after everything Max did, doctors said it was slim to none chances.

He didn't believe that, and he wouldn't. Besides, it was just as well that he wait there for her to wake up. Because the way everyone else kept looking at him made him sort of sick. It brought a rage out in Max that he'd never felt before, an insane protectiveness that threatened to unleash itself in another fit of violence...

Ozuma, Joseph, Mariam and Dunga had been right.

This power was sickening. And hard to control, and terrible, and it had no place in the beystadium.

Max raised his hand, clenched his fist and watched the deep green material of his glove wrinkle and crease. This stuff was so fucked up.

When he looked back down at Mariam though, again, things seemed to go in a different direction. Again he knew he would protect what he'd done, justify it any way he knew how. Joseph agreed with him; so did Ozuma and Dunga. Kai did too, and while Max knew Tyson was absolutely horrified and a little put-out... He knew his best friend stood beside him.

Everyone did. Just like everyone knew, ...Everyone backed him up.

Max wasn't sure why... Maybe staying in that place for the month had really changed them. Maybe they loved Mariam as much as he did. Maybe, on the inside, they knew that someday this terrifying scenario could happen to them.

And when it did, they would hold that same power... Right there in their hands.

Max unclenched his fist, kissed Mariam's temple and eyed their beyblades sitting side-by-side on the mattress for a moment. Draciel and Sharkrash seemed adamant that the right decision had been made. Max smiled, settled back down under the covers and pulled Mariam closer.

Oh well. What's done is done and Max was going to get the hell over it. Everyone was going to eventually; they'd already started.

It was just an accident, after all.


	11. K is for Knotted

**K** is for _Knotted_

"I _cannot_ believe I let you talk me into this."

"Oh it's not that bad Kai!"

"Emily, you're fucked."

Salima tossed her head backward and laughed. She and the rest of the crowd staying at Tyson's were watching the four left on the mat: struggling, groaning, gasping as they tried to move their bodies into increasingly impossible positions. "Kai it's just a game! You're the only guy left!"

Wasn't that the truth. The first game had been Max, Tyson, Mariah and Salima. It was a confusing scheme of a tournament, and Mariam, Kai and Emily refused to play unless they were allowed to get intoxicated beforehand. Which they did, and that just made it more astounding that the three of them had lasted and kept their balance so long.

In round one the first to go had been Tyson. He said of Mariah's hair: _"it's getting in my nose! Ah, ah.. AH CHOO!"_ Tyson basically blew himself right off the mat. His right arm and leg came off the green spots and his left arm and leg came off the blues. Before Mariah's hair started tickling his face he'd been in London Bridge-formation; the sneeze was enough to topple him. Mariah and Max laughed so damn hard that they were next. Mariah see, she'd been positioned over Tyson sort of like Kai was positioned over Mariam now: their bodies formed an X almost, Mariah with hands on one green and one yellow and a foot on a blue and a red. Her hair was in perfect striking distance of Tyson's face, and sooooo that lead to their demise. Max just fell; boy couldn't stop laughing at his friend's defeat.

Salima survived that round and came up the winner, but she lost in the next one. The second round of Terrible Twister saw she, Ray, Kenny and Mariam. After a lot of pulling and Kenny convinced that he'd sprained something awful, Mariam came out the sole victor. Salima was second to go, and Ray almost made it but his palms started to sweat and he lost his grip on a green; sent him flying.

Mariam won that round even with the drunken giggles. It was nice to be playing Twister... It was such a childhood game, and for awhile, she was... Unsure if she could get her body into those positions anymore.

Apparently she was wrong.

Round number three, Kai was officially drunk enough that Salima's begging forced him onto the mat. Daichi taunting him didn't help. Hilary, Emily, Mariam and Kai were battling for the championship. If Mariam won this round she won the tournament for good, but if she fell and Hilary, Emily or Kai were still- ..Standing?, then they claimed a round and they were even; it would come down to a game of one versus one. You'd think tensions would be high.

Not in the slightest.

"My god I wish we had this on video!" Hilary giggled as Daichi spun the game spinner.

"Left foot yellow!"

Hilary craned her foot over and had to do some massive stretching to slink her leg under Mariam and Kai to reach a yellow. Kai had two of the reds occupied with his feet and two of the greens with his hands. Mariam's right hand and foot took up a yellow apiece and the rest of her took up blue spaces with Kai's stretched midsection crisscrossed over her own. Hilary currently had a hand on the top red spot and the other hand on the blue beside it. Her right foot was on the top green.

It was a friggen MESS.

"Don't you dare fall Hilary!" She groaned at Tyson's needling.

"I'm _trying _Tyson!"

Mariam and Emily gave a little laugh.

"Come on Emily you can do this! You got this, I know you're flexible!" Kenny didn't even realize what he'd said until it was too late.

...

The entire room burst into laughter and Emily's face turned as red as a beet. Sadly the embarassment was enough to do her in, and Emily who'd been relatively un-caught up in the tangled mass of arms and legs and bodies was actually the first one out.

She hit the floor elbows first and cursed. "Dammit Kenny!"

"Oops, sorry..." They could tell by the grin on his face that he really wasn't.

"Can we _please_ keep playing so we can be finished already."

Daichi snickered. Even drunk, Kai was Mr. Buzzkill; but clearly he'd loosened up some since he and Salima made it official because that girl had Kai doing things that they'd never seen before. Like... Smiling.

It was creepy sometimes.

"Alright Kai, Mariam's turn! Mariam, right foot green!" Daichi commanded.

The Saint Shields female groaned, and began to stretch her leg from the yellow space it had been to reach a green farther down the mat.

Max was damn near biting his nails off. He worried about her playing these games when her balance wasn't the best, but even moreso he knew her competitive nature wouldn't let her give up even if shit was starting to hurt.

Luckily, Mariam seemed to make it without too much trouble. Max whooped and went to the kitchen to make his lover another Jack with Pepsi. She was probably going to be sore in the morning and on top of that Max had learned one valuable thing about Mariam over the last two years: she loved to drink. And when you were drunk the human body had its way of... Concealing any and all pain you were in; he knew Mariam was taking advantage of it.

He wasn't naive, he also knew that the more drinks Mariam had the more sex they would get to later. And Kai, well... He should be drunk all the time in Max's opinion. When Max returned with Mari's drink in his hand, it was just in time to hear Mariah squeal. Kai had made a right foot blue easily enough, but...

It was Hilary who had to bring things to a crashing end.

Daichi called Hilary on another foot; the left one in fact, and it had to go red. So as pulled taut as one could possibly be, she had to make a savage jerking motion to try and get at a red circle. Unfortunately she brought up in Kai's right foot on the way.

BAM.

Kai went down, right on top of Mariam and Mariam went down right between Hilary's spread thighs.

Max in the doorway dropped his jaw.

"You're having a threesome and I wasn't invited?!"

Kai would've taken a deep breath of agitation if his face wasn't buried in Mariam's boobs.

Mariam would've laughed out loud if she wasn't busy marvelling at the pretty purple color of Hilary's underwear.

Hilary would've shrieked but she was too busy staring at the compromising position they were now in.

"Um... Kai?"

Kai audibly groaned this time and Mariam flushed as the sound made her chest vibrate.

"Yes, Salima?" His voice muffled.

"Would you mind...?"

"Yeah Kai get your face out of my girlfriend's tits!"

Mariam couldn't help but laugh at her lover's remark. A lot of them couldn't... Mostly because Kai never played these things and the fall was so accidental that it couldn't of been helped. Plus Kai's chin probably bruised her breastbone while he was at it.

Kai heaved himself up and shook out his hair. "This is why I don't play boardgames."

Max placed Mariam's drink on the table.

And then he dove onto the mat and took Kai's place. Everyone again broke out into a fit of laughter and Mariam giggled so much that her breasts shook around Max's cheeks. He pressed a grin into her flesh, and then turned his head slightly. He raised an eyebrow.

"Nice underwear Hilary."

"MAX GET OUT OF THERE!"

"I'm goin' Tyson." He grinned and stood up, helping both ladies to their feet. He kissed Mariam gently on the lips.

"No more Twister; Ray nearly had his head up your ass last round and this time Kai got a faceful of these." He gestured to the front of Mariam's chest and she grinned at him. God, Max was such a cutie.

Maybe she was just drunk; but he really was adorable.

"Yeah, that sounds good to me. Besides..."

"Besides what?"

"You think I enjoyed watching Mariah nearly grab your junk as she went down?" Mariam winked at him and openly, in front of the BladeBreakers, Emily, Mariah and Salima, she grabbed Max through his jeans. "This is mine."

Max couldn't help the way his eyelids dropped and the way he just pulled her a little bit closer. "It's yours alright..."

"Wow..." Kenny cleared his throat while Ray whistled and Mariah apologized for the crotch grab. "You know guys, I'm glad I started taping this. I have so much blackmail right now!"

Max, Mariam and Hilary froze.

"Whose fucking idea was this goddamn game anyways?"

More laughter.

Poor, poor Kai.

* * *

><p><strong>MS: <strong>And that was my horrible, horrible attempt at writing Twister. LOL. I used to adore that board game, and I couldn't help but wonder how it would go if the BladeBreakers and their girlfriends took a stab at it. It might've went pretty well, depending on which way you looked at it! Review review review please, and I'll post another chapter tomorrow night- the letter L!


	12. L is for Legacy

**L **is for _Legacy_

_"Come on you two! Everybody's countin' on ya big time!"_  
><em>"Quit goofin' around Mariam and get this over with!"<em>  
><em>"Come on you can do it Mariam!"<em>  
><em>"You got her on the run girl!"<em>  
><em>"Keep focused Mariam!"<em>

_"The tables sure have turned! Now it appears it's all Queen in this one!"_

It was, wasn't it.

Mariam rested her head against the gently vibrating plane window and stared outside at the darkness, at the rain dripping streaks down the layered glass. She'd been able to avoid thinking about it, at least for awhile. While the Saint Shields were done in the tournament, they knew it best to stick around. They all wanted to see the BladeBreakers pull through for another win at the world championships.

And when she'd watched Max pulverize Queen later, well, that had almost made it okay.

Until now.

It was time for a long, long, long journey home and that meant a whole lot of time to think. Time to think about her loss... Time to think about everything she'd learned... Time to think about Max.

All of it was still replaying in her head, even though everything happened almost two weeks before.

She remembered falling to her knees. Sharkrash fell, why shouldn't she...? Blue pieces of what used to be her beyblade went flying, thrown astray by the magnetized dish and for a moment Mariam almost found it fitting;... Almost like some sick sort of karma for everything her team had put the BladeBreakers through.

Queen and King pocketed two attack rings that day, two pieces that were very special to her home town and to her heritage. Been in the family for generations. Then they gave them their backs and strutted out of the ring like they were as high and mighty as their names lead one to believe.

Mariam wasn't sure if the look on her face at that moment had mirrored her heartbreak, the way she felt on the inside when she lowered a shaking hand into the dish and pulled Sharkrash from the rubble. Maybe when she got home she'd ask someone who'd taped the championships to let her watch... See for herself.

When Ozuma and Dunga finally got down from the stands, lifted Joseph and Mariam back onto their feet, people were already piling out. Some people offered 'I'm sorry's and random hands patted their shoulders and people cursed and hollered about how cruel and unfair that match had become. How it shouldn't of been legal. But at the same time, she and Joseph didn't need convincing. They wanted to finish... They wanted to take their chances, give it their all: ...Or well, the only power they could safely use.

And they failed. Strange how this loss didn't feel at all like the justification, the deep breath and soft smiles when Max beat her at the amusement park. Strange. But then again, Max hadn't destroyed her blade either.

_Max._

Mariam lifted her pinky finger and traced a curling, quivering stream of rainwater from the inside. Casting a glance over her shoulder, Ozuma sat beside her with his arms crossed and eyes closed. If he wasn't asleep, he was trying. Dunga and Joseph had fallen to slumber already, but it took Joseph longer. Mariam had watched her brother twist, turn in the seat.

Maybe this flight wasn't bad for just her.

Returning her emerald eyes to the shaded view of the window, she thought about the racing feet down the hallway.

_"Mariam! Hey Mariam! Guys, wait!"_

She hadn't wanted to wait... She didn't want Max to see her like that. Though he had, in the stadium already but sadly that day was one of the very few days in her life Mariam wanted to cry. She didn't need Tate around to see that.

She gave her brother one look, he solemnly nodded his head and together the two pushed open the doors and left. Ozuma and Dunga followed their lead. Didn't ask questions.

She didn't speak to Max that day, and Mariam hadn't spoken much to him again until about seventeen hours ago. They'd had a few random run-ins, and the blonde said a few things that would stay with her forever. But she hadn't said much back.

Sure she'd sat in the stands, cheered, tried to be supportive with the rest of her team as Max and Tyson fought and clawed their way to the championship match and claimed their titles... But as soon as the medals and the plaques were given to Max and Tyson, she was the first to get up. Ozuma was next, then Dunga, and then Joseph.

_"Kinda sucks. I think I might actually miss those guys."_

_"Way to be sentimental Dunga."_

_"Fuck off runt."_

She didn't join in on her brothers' chatter. Back at the shorefront the four of them had a warehouse to pack away, a bunch of funds to sort through, and an airport check-in line to eventually visit. Fun stuff... Their year away from home was over, and it was time to return to Newfoundland. God, she missed home...

They'd almost made it to the end of the hallway when again came those hurdling footsteps. Christ, didn't they have some victory thing to get to? A press conference, an interview, a goddamn fangirl orgy anything...?

_'Ooh. That thought stung.'_

_"Guys! Ozuma, Mariam, Joseph, Dunga! Wait! Just WAIT A SECOND!"_

Ozuma stopped her this time. He put a hand on her forearm and held it there, held it steady on the door. She knew what he was trying to tell her. _'This is your last chance to see Tate before we leave tomorrow. You know that. Enjoy it while you can.'_

_"Congratulations Max. We were rooting for you."_

_Max slowed to a stop, smiled at them. "Thanks Ozuma. You guys don't need to take off in such a hurry you know, the Psykicks are staying for the victory press release and then we're-"_

_"Sorry Max, but... We've got to get on our way."_

_"Oh... Where are you headed?"_

_Mariam ducked her head down. "We're going home... We have a flight at midnight."_

Then another flight. Then a ferry ride. Thennnn about sixteen hours on a bus.

She didn't think she'd ever forget the look on Max's face.

_"I see... Where... Where's home?"_

_Joseph unscrewed the cap on his water bottle, took a gulp. "We're from Canada actually. Newfoundland."_

_"Wow... I think that might be one of the only places in the world that beyblading hasn't taken me."_

_"Yeah."_

Ozuma slipped out first and with a wave of his head, he signalled Dunga and Joseph to follow. They'd made it plainly obvious to her that they wanted to give her this last moment of freedom. Freedom to enjoy whatever these five minutes of uninterrupted childish infatuation offered her.

When the door had swung shut behind them, Mariam looked up at Max and his blue eyes seemed so, so sad.

_"...I guess I knew you had to leave at some point, but I didn't think it was going to be this soon."_

_"We've been here for nearly a year Max... I think our friends miss us back home."_

_Max nodded quickly, rubbed the back of his neck. She loved his little nervous twitches. "Yeah yeah, that's true... And it's been a crazy year, hasn't it?"_

_"Crazy year."_

Crazy didn't _touch_ crazy. The Saint Shields had done more than the BladeBreakers would ever know about, and maybe if Mariam was in a better mood before she left, she would've told Max about some of the shit they went through. But she wasn't in a good mood.

Not at all.

_Max took a deep breath and opened his mouth but Mariam shut him up pretty quickly. She wrapped her arms around him, and gave him one hell of a hug. She rested her chin there in the corner of his neck, breathed in his sweat, his wearing-down excitement from the battle and something else that was so uniquely Max Tate._

_Max was so still, and her heart started pounding out of her chest. Fuck fuck fuck, she was crossing a line. Jesus he must have had a girlfriend or something-_

_Finally, she felt those muscular arms wrap around her waist, her back, and press her tight. It was so close, so fast... And she loved every second of it._

_Then she heard the racuous voices. The shouts, the cries of happiness and the cheers and the stampede of footsteps that meant the victory party was coming down the front hall; no doubt looking for champion number two who had taken off a little too quickly for his team's liking._

_So Mariam let him go before some paparazzi motherfucker took a picture of them in a compromising position. Sharkrash twinged unsure in her pocket, and she patted the seam gently._

_"Congratulations Max." _

_She gave him a little smile... Again she wanted to cry. Almost._

_But she didn't._

_Then she left before he opened his mouth and said another word._

Mariam continued to stare out at the blackness... She hadn't cried then, and she wouldn't cry now.

Fuck she was tired... Thank god she was going home. Those three weeks in New York and then those months in Japan had cost her more than she ever wanted to realize again. They'd drained her of things, of ideas that could probably never be rebuilt.

She didn't cry. But she didn't sleep either.

* * *

><p><strong>MS: <strong>We've got some Mariam-angst going on here... Oh she and Max just break my heart sometimes! Again guys, please review :) They really make me feel this fic is worth writing. And if you're interested in the possibility of starting a Beyblade roleplay, please let me know. Thanks for reading! :)


	13. M is for Mustard

**M **is for _Mustard_

"That stuff is disgusting."

"You know, I really doubt that this relationship will work if you say that about mustard just _one_ more time!"

Mariam and Max laughed as Max squeezed a long yellow squiggly line of condiment onto his hot dog.

"I'd rather ketchup.."

"I hate ketchup."

She punched him in the arm and again they laughed. Days like this were the best... Simple joys, a beautiful, sunny day... Rick's loud and annoying-as-fuck beatbox playing in the background as the busy hustle and bustle of New York passed them by.

Mariam really did like the city; but then again, the Saint Shields' forays to New York in America, Moscow in Russia, Sai Kung in China and Beycity in Japan were the only places she'd ever been besides a few of the other towns across her home island.

She didn't know a lot about those other places; but some day she would sure like to visit.

She turned her head back to Max as he opened his mouth wide and took a beefy bite of his hot dog. She watched a bit of mustard cling to the corner of his lip and shuddered dramatically.

"Gross! I am not kissing you after you eat that."

Max glared at her. "You know you better start liking mustard! Next time I get you in bed I'm gonna take a bottle and squirt it all over you and lick it off; maybe then you'd appreciate how good it can be." He winked at her and Mariam laughed so loud that Judy and Emily behind them in line nearly stumbled into the vendor's cart.

"You are _so _disgusting!"

"Yeah I know... But you love it though." He grinned at her and Mariam rolled her eyes...

Kissed his lips.

She totally did.

* * *

><p><strong>MS: <strong>This one's a little short compared to the others, but when the idea hit me I had no other choice. xD Sorry for all the sexual innuendos in these drabbles. Sorry. (Not really)


	14. N is for Nurse

**N **is for _Nurse_

Max traced his fingers over the top of the headband gently.

It still hurt.

Masking a wince, he took his hand from his throbbing right arm. He sighed and let his eyes move around the hospital waiting room. Crying children being swaddled by their mothers, people complaining about the wait, the common cold echoing sniffles all around... A few peoples' eyes passed over him, lingering on the bloody swath of fabric tied around his arm. A few people muttered "Look, those are the BladeBreakers!" and so on. So typical hospital scene.

Everything else that had happened that day had been anything but.

By now they weren't exactly shocked when some random jerk shot a beyblade out of the bushes and then took off, expecting them to follow. Max assumed Dennis had been no different, so, he did.

It turned out to be true; Dennis wasn't different.

What had been strange about that day was the third person who followed Max into that old parking garage.

Even now, as he thought about it, the scene in front of Max's face seemed to wither and fade away into a dull, electrical roar. His left hand moved again, and placed itself over the heavy makeshift bandage.

She'd saved his bitbeast... That much was obvious.

If Mariam hadn't shown up when she did, blasted that machine to bits, chances are Draciel would've been out of Max's reach. She really would've; Kai and Kenny made it clear to him on the walk to the clinic that Max shouldn't of taken off on his own. His friends didn't know where he went, and wouldn't of been able to help him.

Mariam was the reason he still had Draciel.

Mariam was the reason he was waiting in the outpatients' clinic.

The surge of power from all that equipment going haywire had proven too much for the old building to take (Max was starting to get concerned about Japan's willingness to leave all those old hazardous properties where people could get at them). It started to crumble around them.

Max pressed in on the cut on his arm. Why couldn't he remember what happened when the floor went down...? Hm. Fight or flight, he supposed. Next thing Max knew he was taking his hands away from the top of his head, huddled somewhere dark after a hard fall onto rocks and concrete. The noise was so loud, he could still feel his ears ringing.

His arm gave a sharp pang.

Cringing, Max realized that yet again he'd let himself go prodding at the two-hour-old memory.

He wasn't about to stop thinking of her anytime soon, either.

When it was clear that the building wasn't going to come down on their heads completely, Max and Mariam began to move about. The first thing he did was thank her; naturally. Max never had much time for ego, and he wasn't about to let the fact that she saved his ass go by unnoticed. He was surprised by her response.

'_Enemies... "I don't know why I did what I did."'_

Max ran over the words in his mind for at least the third or fourth time. Why were the Saint Shields so desperate to hate them...? Why did they want Draciel, Dranzer, Driger and Dragoon so damn badly...?

As he shifted about in a seat that was anything but comfy Max couldn't help but be worried that they'd never get the answers to those questions.

Even stranger still was that it wasn't her interest in Draciel that really bothered Max. It wasn't that at all... It was Mariam's _un_-interest in him.

He fingered the little twisted, shorn bow of the headband.

Some weird, male-dominated instinct told him to say "stay close." Because the last thing he wanted was to see her get hurt. He assumed his gallantry was just due to the fact that, yeah, he was a guy... And plus, he was practical. Whatever feud their teams were having, Max was sure it could be put aside at the risk of a human life.

Yet, he'd saved that life... And she still didn't want anything to do with him. Except for Draciel, of course.

Max could still feel the rush, the sudden dive, the instant click that made him _move. _He'd locked his arms around her waist as quickly as the rocks minded to fall from under her feet, and he'd been able to pull Mariam back against his chest; back from the brink. Rocks fell from above too, and honestly Max hadn't even noticed them until a sharp slab of foundation gouged out a section of his upper arm.

Adrenaline, right? Just adrenaline. Adrenaline was the reason he hadn't let her go yet... And adrenaline was the reason he was so anxious to just be her friend.

_'Enemies.'_

When Mariam had gotten her breath back, she'd thanked him; almost on impulse. Max could tell that maybe, if she'd had time to think about it, she wouldn't of said thank you at all. Would have given him more shrivel about being able to take care of herself and all that jazz. Now, Max was no anti-feminist; Mariah, Frankie, Emily... Those girls could blade with the best of them, and so could Mariam. Max could appreciate a girl's talents in the dish; hell, he'd admit to thinking a girl with talent in the beystadium was hot as fuck.

But Max hated it when girls made any attempt to help them out seem like he was trying to pull the knight in shining armor act. And that's what he thought Mariam's deal was.

Then she turned it all right back over to the fact that she just didn't want to be his friend. At all.

Somehow, that hurt a little worse. Those snide little remarks hurt a lot more than knowing Hilary was all about Tyson, and not him. It made him ache more than knowing Mariah wanted one BladeBreaker and one BladeBreaker only, and it wasn't Max. It bothered Max more than seeing Emily swoon over the Chief instead of him... Not to mention the million fangirls Kai had screaming out his name everyday.

None of that bothered him like Mariam's rejection seemed to.

"-long now."

A soft nudge to the ribs pulled Max from his thoughts.

"What?"

Ray raised an eyebrow. "I said that the outpatients nurse is taking people in again; the car accident must be handled. It shouldn't be long now."

"Oh... Yeah, right."

Max hadn't even wanted to come to the hospital. He'd been satisfied to go back to the dojo with just her headband there... Soaking up the blood, the tightness taking away some of the pain.

Her hands had been gentle at first; then Mariam had pulled the bandage tight enough to hurt a second later. But she apologized, and in Max's books that made it just fine. He didn't mean to insult her... He really hadn't. But he wanted some kind of epiphany to reach her before it was too late. He needed Mariam to know that there was more to beyblading, more to life than completing some stupid mission from your homeland that had you stealing from someone who so obviously cared about you.

Someone who so obviously wanted to be more than her enemy.

Another elbow to the ribs.

Max looked to his right side at Hilary, hands together in her lap and warm smile on her face.

"What's on your arm... That's Mariam's headband, isn't it?"

Max nodded his head, looked down at the blood-soaked fabric. "Yeah... It is."

"It was nice of her to wrap it for you..."

Max let Hilary's words sink in, and despite what Mariam had told him earlier, the blonde member of the BladeBreakers let a smile spread over his freckled face.

"Yeah... Yes, it was."

Max was sure of it; the friendship was not going to end just because they'd escaped certain, crushing oblivion and saw the sunlight again. And it wasn't going to end on the day he beat her and showed the Saint Shields that Draciel was his and his alone.

He could get through to her. He would, get through to her.

Max's smile remained on his face even as the outpatients nurse sat him down and prepared to give him seven stitches. He pocketed the headband too, even though he knew it probably belonged in the trash.

Up until now Max wasn't sure what being in love felt like.

Blind, hopeless love.

Maybe, this was it.

* * *

><p><strong>MS: <strong>I'm not totally happy with the way this one turned out; I dunno, too much emotional shift-and-pull for my liking. Couldn't get it right. Oh well. Just a few points guys; anyone who hasn't taken the poll at my profile, I'd really appreciate it if you would! Secondly, I'm going to take a request for the letter R :) I have up to Q written and ready to go, pending on reviews. But I'll let someone pick the R-word. Leave me a review with your choice of R-word and if you're lucky, I'll pick that one! :) Thanks everyone!


	15. O is for Ocean

**O **is for _Ocean_

They both loved the water.

She grew up beside it, and he grew up wanting to be closer.

Sometimes it seemed like there were five parts to their relationship. Mariam, Max, Draciel, Sharkrash, and the sea. Whenever one, or two, even three parts, of that relationship were absent... They always felt lost. A little torn in one direction, a little pulled in another. Sharkrash and Draciel missed each other and the comradery they got to share when their partners were together. And neither beyblader could part from their bitbeast and not feel broken. Mariam loved Max and would wait forever, but was anchored to her home by the towering waves. Max loved Mariam and he would follow her anywhere, but his life would be incomplete without his team and the pull of the competition.

The ocean separated them by miles, often what seemed like worlds apart.

Mariam would listen to the waves crash, and imagine her love listening to the same sound. Max would watch the sun set over the horizon from the balcony of another hotel room, and marvel at the sea's stricken color that reminded him of his love's hair and eyes.

The sea imparted them both such sweet sorrows.

But when they were all together...

That was sweeter.

"Max don't-!"

She didn't get to finish before Max had flipped her surfboard, sending her plunging into the salty surf beside him. Even from below the crashing waves she heard his laughter, pulling her toward the surface where she promptly spit out the lungful of water right into his face.

The blonde was still all grins, wiped it away. "You looked too proud up there on that surfboard; had to put a stop to that."

The blunette rolled her eyes, but there was a smile there. Always was when she was with Max.

"You're just jealous because you can't surf."

"Yes, yes I am." He pulled her closer, the waves a constant rock that lifted them up and up and then down, a soothing rhythm that they matched stride for stride. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"I can teach you."

"Good... I'd love to learn." Max tilted his face backward and let the sun fall across his freckled cheeks, dust his wet locks and make them gleam. "Some days I just feel like swimming forever... There's just no time usually. It really makes me appreciate the time we get to spend here."

Mariam tilted her head. "You appreciate your time here because you get to swim? Well excuuuuse me." He grinned. She knew what he meant; and he knew that she knew. But stating it couldn't hurt any. Besides...

Max never got tired of saying it anyways.

"That... And I have this amazing woman who I get to see on the beach, every day. I think I might love her you know."

Mariam brushed wet hair out of her eyes and held the board steady as she pushed herself up, sitting on the flat surface. Max joined her a moment later and watched her face, watched her lips pull into that knowing smirk that always meant something good. Or deliciously bad; either or was Max's favorite thing to see.

"Amazing woman huh? It's funny. I think that amazing woman has this amazing guy that she can't wait to see on the beach everyday. ...He must look good with his shirt off."

Both of them erupted into laughter that the approaching footsteps from the shoreline could clearly hear, even amidst the sound of the waves rolling against the sand.

Max cupped her chin, leaned forward.

"Max!"

He paused and turned his head toward the beach where Hiro and Kai stood, watching them.

"If you two want the chance to spend more time on the beach after lunch, you better get dressed and ready for the launch dinner!" Hiro yelled across the sifting currents to them, hands cupped around his mouth while Kai just stood with his arms crossed.

Both Max and Mariam groaned.

"I love that it's all for charity, but I can't say I love the meeting. Especially not after last year."

Mariam watched him narrow his eyes a bit and stare out across the wide blue abyss and she couldn't help the softening of her face.

"Oh come on. You're not still sore about that are you...? We settled it; it happened then, and this is now. Forget it, Max; I have."

He turned his head back to her, and she felt relieved when he smiled.

"Yeah, alright. Besides; I think Sharkrash and Draciel are anxious to get beybattling." He pointed up at the sky where the two spirits lingered, soaring, skimming the waters like an albatross over the bay. The blue and purple was beautiful to watch as they came floating in to the sandy shore, circling each other one last time before embedding themselves in the bit-chips laying at Kai's feet.

Kai looked back up at the couple sitting on the surfboard.

"Now, you two. Ozuma's looking for you Mariam."

Again the couple groaned.

Max shook his head. "Come on, we should probably go back." He offered his lover his hand, to which she lovingly pushed him right off the surfboard like he'd done to her earlier.

Max resurfaced to the tinkling of her laughter, louder, clearer than it had been under the waves. He could see the shine of her pale back as she paddled the board toward the beach, soon turning a grin over her shoulder.

"Come on loverboy! You'll get beaten this year for sure if you don't keep up appearances!"

Max could only echo that grin as he began a hasty breast stroke back toward the sparkling sand.

The ocean meant so much to them. And he loved it here, cutting through the waves while the sun beamed overhead.

But he loved his woman, as wild and untameable as the sea, just a little bit more.

* * *

><p><strong>MS: <strong>While this chapter was nothing special, the sea is very important to me and with both Max and Mariam having an affinity for water, I pictured it would be a big part of their lives. Hope you enjoyed it :) And I'm still waiting for someone to suggest an 'R' word guys!


	16. P is for Pride

**MS: **So I got a few recommendations for my R-word; I'd like to thank _Iluvbeyblade _and _LupaCaerulea_ for their choices! The R chapter shall beeeeeee: Russian Roulette. _Iluvbeyblade, _you've provided me with my idea for Q: Quarrel. ;) Thanks guys, now read on for P.

* * *

><p><strong>P <strong>is for _Pride_

"No no no no come onnnnnnn!"

"Shit, Rick is really starting to piss me off!"

"Apparently teamwork means _less _than shit to this kid..."

It was a little surreal to be watching him, again, after nearly a year. And what changes a year had brought.

The Saint Shields were a little off-put when they heard that the BladeBreakers had disbanded. And the first words out of Ozuma's father's mouth had been, '_You might have to go back. There's no telling how the four sacred beasts will take being split apart after so long together.'_

Ozuma had told him point blank to shut up.

That year had been... Mariam almost shuddered thinking about it. Her back _still _hurt from sleeping on that concrete floor. She'd never been happier to see a hot shower in her life when they'd gotten back. And after she and Joseph suffered such a horrendous loss in the tournament, well... They didn't want to go back. And that was that.

But now... As they sat around the large television in Joseph and Mariam's living room, Mariam was having second thoughts.

She missed that smile. That head of golden hair.

Not that she'd ever openly admit to it. ...While sober.

Stephanie, Nieco, Michael, Josephine, Jane, Shawnee and Kyle thought it best to be around on the day of the BladeBreakers' third world championships for moral support. Neither Ozuma, Mariam, Dunga or Joseph had mentioned wanting to watch the games; but when they paid a visit to their home, there they were... Crowded on the couch, Dunga in the loveseat.

Watching them battle.

So now here the best friends of the Saint Shields sat, on the floor, beers in hand and bags of popcorn and chips raided from the cupboards to keep them going in munchies. Beyblading was big in Heart's Content, maybe for different reasons than the world championships; but after their home team had met the current Champs, there was no way in hell they were missing them fight for their third world title.

No matter how much, in the last year, the Saint Shields had seemed to want nothing more to do with that sort of life.

Joseph cringed, shook his head and popped a Dorito into his mouth as Rick and Max again shared heated words in front of their competitors.

"I hope Ray and Lee win this; might teach Rick a lesson..."

Mariam shot her brother a dirty look. "Max deserves to win! It's not his fault his brain-dead mom paired him up with an asshole who doesn't know how to appreciate his team!"

"Mariam to you Max deserves to win everything." Much to her distaste, Joseph blew kissy faces at her. _'Little bastard...'_

Josephine looked over her shoulder. Dunga was biting his thumbnail, eyes on the screen with interest. Ozuma had his arms crossed, but he was watching as intently and nervously as Dunga. Neither paid any mind to the arguing siblings.

Josephine smirked to herself and whispered into Jane's ear. "You'd have never thought they weren't friends, would yah."

Jane muffled a laugh into her Coors Lite.

It was very true. While the Saint Shields' mission statement had been clear, by the end of things... They couldn't help but begin to feel a little attached to the team they'd had to basically stalk and protect for a year. And then steal from.

Mariam most of all.

As she stopped arguing with her brother to watch the match again, her eyes lingered nonstop on Max's intense face. _'Come on Max... I know you can do it.'_

"I feel like the winner of this could be a surprise."

Nieco looked up at Ozuma.

"Really? A free-for-all battle is probably only gonna go one of two ways; Max or Ray's. Lee and Rick are really good but they're not current world champions."

"Trust me."

By now, everyone did. So, Nieco shrugged his shoulders, looped an arm around Stephanie and went back to watching the beybattle.

"Don't say that too loud Ozuma, Mariam might cry herself to sleep if Max loses this battle!"

She wanted to brain Dunga upside the head with her beer bottle. But she refrained; if only for fear of getting more mess on the carpet than the chip crumbs and spilled liquor already there. Mariam had admitted to herself that she liked Max, andddd that she couldn't have him.

She didn't need them making it worse for her than it already was. Too bad the words were already out of her mouth.

"It's not the outcome of the battle that I want for Max."

Her brother raised his eyebrow, so did Stephanie. Even her ex-team captain shot her a curious look.

"...I want him to prove to Rick that they can be a good team together... Max knows the value of teamwork; I've seen it. We've _all_, seen it."

Her brothers nodded their heads... She had a point and of course, Mariam knew it.

"If he can get Rick on-board... They'll do awesome in their next beybattles. I mean, in my opinion, the BladeBreakers belong together and they never should've split up; bad decision, on Max's part. And Ray's and Kai's, but at the end of the day we can't control them."

"Sadly."

Ozuma nudged Joseph in the ribs to which he got a grunted 'ow' in reply.

Mariam rolled her eyes and continued on... No matter how much her heart ached.

"...I just want the best for Max." The _'I want him to be happy'_ went unspoken.

All four beyblades came tumbling back down to earth... And spinning solid in the middle was a black blade that made everyone in the room shout in disbelief.

Lee had won the battle royale.

Not Ray... Not Max. And not Rick, but Lee.

Mariam sighed internally. It wasn't the victory that she knew inside both she, and Max hoped for... But when she saw Max and Rick shake hands and smile, the rest of the chatter in front of and around her seemed to fade away for a moment.

A calm settled over her being. What she'd been cheering for, Max had won.

He won a new friend, and that would undoubtably make the kind-hearted boy she knew glow from the inside out more than a victory ever would.

Ozuma was proven right, and Joseph and Dunga were pissed.

Mariam was proud.


	17. Q is for Quarrel

**Q **is for _Quarrel_

"Nuh-uh, don'ttttt go in there."

Tyson paused with his hand on the white threshold. He looked down at Joseph sitting on the front stoop of his home and raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?"

"They're having their first fight."

* * *

><p>"I think you're making a big deal out of nothing-"<p>

"Don't play it off like it's not a big deal!" Mariam sighed, defeated. There was an odd sort of shiver underneath her skin, a queer feeling that made her shuffle her weight from side to side. Maybe because she knew Max was right.

At least, sorta.

Honestly it wasn't a big deal; but to Max, it was. Max who was the most overly expressive, romantic person ever.

Max shook his head in disdain at their present situation. This wasn't how he wanted to spend his few valuable moments with her on his summer vacation. Not at all, but at the same time there was only so much he could put up with.

There was only so much... DISTANCE he could handle.

Even though he was the one who kept having to leave.

Another second of the awkward silence in the living room and he kept going.

"Look Mariam. I'm... Gonna lay it on the line."

She looked up at him, and he hated seeing her look so concerned. But that was the problem, wasn't it? She could never say what her eyes told him. Mariam could never express even a fraction of her emotion in her words unless she was behind a microphone or hiding behind stupid little quips that defused an intense moment faster than Mariah's lips made Ray shut the hell up.

Max took a deep breath.

"I love you. And you know that. I love you, so much, that I was willing to toss my entire life into one summer to try and make you feel the same for me."

"I DO-"

"I know! I know..." Max buried his fingers in the hair behind his ear, scratched at a phantom itch before again getting on with his point. "If you didn't care, Mariam, I don't think you would've done what you did. There isn't a doubt in my mind that you love me! ...But I wish that you'd just be more open about it."

She understood what he meant. Or well, she tried to. She really did. Mariam lowered her eyes to the floor and thought back to some of the moments that Max was probably referring to.

_"Are we going to have kids?"_

_Mariam looked at him lying beside her. That was blunt. Hot air filled her lungs and she blew out an exasperated breath. She and Max had broken just about every other custom her home town had to offer, so she didn't really see the point in his asking..._

_"Here's a better question; are we going to have tacos for supper?"_

She could clearly picture Max's face in her mind. He'd pursed his lips like he was going to say something else to her, that day in bed... Instead he just broke out into a smile. Told her they were going to have whatever she wanted. ...And whatever she was willing to cook.

Men.

"I just... Max, I don't know how to be the type of _open _that you want!"

"It's not _rocket science _Mariam!" He was ready to pull his hair right out. "When I asked you if you still felt depressed from time to time you blew it off! You changed the subject, and you do that all the time! When I wanted to talk about you and Ozuma you just shrugged it right off your shoulders like it didn't matter and you didn't wanna deal with it! When I asked about a date for the wedding you just put that all on me and when I asked about kids, you changed the subject; AGAIN."

He was right. He was so right. She shuffled from side to side again, crossed her arms, picked at a scab on her elbow. Christ, she hated this.

"I'm... I'm sorry."

"DON'T APOLOGIZE!"

She cringed at the volume to his voice.

Seeing her cringe, Max sighed. Anger didn't come often to him still; but when it did, it came sometimes in vicious spurts that made him regret the things that came out of his mouth. Side-effects, he guessed.

He opened his arms. "Come here."

Mariam bit at her bottom lip. She supposed that maybe this was the part where most women turned around and ran out the door crying. Instead, she walked into his arms. He wrapped them around her and when she felt that warmth seeping into her veins, Mariam felt guilty.

She felt guilty for making him feel guilty and he probably felt the same way and _god,_ fights sucked. No wonder Dunga hated seeing his parents like this.

Max rested his chin on her head. "I love you. And I love the way you are. But... Sometimes I wish I could hear you be honest with me about the things that really matter."

She could hear his heartbeat calming down a little, like her very presence made him feel better. That was the thing: having Max around calmed her too. It calmed her like nothing else did, but how did she let him know that...? She said 'I love you.' She answered the phone when he called. She told him she missed him when he was away. She _was _honest, about most things... But it didn't seem to be enough. Why couldn't she get the right words out...?

Maybe it was because Max made her nervous. And scared. And embarassed. And, and every other little emotion someone from Newfoundland who grew up around a clan of rambunctious boys didn't experience very often. Here, women were... Silent. Oh they were as loud and outspoken as the men... Just not about these things.

Because these things, these talks of relationships and love and when to start a family and how to run a household, those situations were the realm of men. Influenced by men; commented on by the men.

She was fairly positive that Jane didn't have the guts to ask her brother these things, and she knew that a lot of what Max wanted to talk about went unspoken.

Of course they were going to have kids... They had sex, didn't they? Of course she wanted to marry him... Goddamn, Mariam had been having dreams of a longer, more expensive white dress and Max in a black tux since his third world championships.

She knew all of that... But why was it so hard to say...?

Max's arms began to loosen around her and soon they dropped completely. He said nothing else as he lifted his chin from on top of her head and prepared to pull away. Like he always had to do because there just wasn't any way to make them closer.

_'Say it Mariam. Open your obnoxiously big mouth and just friggen tell him.'_

"I want kids with you. I want to be married to you, as soon as we possibly can. I want everyone to be happy and for your parents not to think I tried to force you into this because that's the way it happens around here sometimes. I just want to be with you, forever, and... And that's the truth."

Max paused and just stared at her. Then he dipped his head and kissed her hard on the lips.

"That's what I want."

Mariam sighed in relief. Then she said it before she could really stop herself.

"Good because what I want is for this fight to stop; anymore screaming and your mother is going to tell you she was right about me all along."

Max hung his head with a sigh. "Must you always cheapen the moment?"

Mariam bit her lip.

"I swear I didn't try it this time!"

* * *

><p><strong>MS: <strong>I would like to dedicate this chapter to the wonderful _Iluvbeyblade,_ who listens to me rant and complain when I need to bitch out my Beyblade issues. Haha. It probably wasn't an angsty as you would've liked and I'm sorry about that, but I suppose I just had an image of this letter in my mind! I hope you like it anyways :) I've also decided guys that as soon as I get 3 or 4 reviews, I'll be ready to update! So far up to the letter T is written! :) So reviewreviewreview and I hope you enjoyed this chapter everyone!


	18. R is for Russian Roulette

**MS: **Hello everyone! :) I'd like to thank all the reviewers of the previous chapters and to take a moment to specially thank _LupaCaerulea_ for giving me the prompt for the letter R: Russian Roulette. This chapter is a little bit more sideways than most, and a little more oblique than the other entries for this fic. Overall I'm not entirely impressed with its quality because it would've made a much better multi-chapter story! But alas, time is short and that multichapter is a meek dream that there's only about a 40% chance I'll ever get to. So this will have to do :) As always, if you have any questions about what's going to happen (for this chapter you definitely will), please feel free to send me a message! And go visit the poll on my profile if you please because it concerns this possible multichapter. :) Thanks again everyone!

* * *

><p><strong>R <strong>is for _Russian Roulette_

"We can't just do nothing."

Ozuma cast his eyes over his shoulder at her before turning back toward the sea.

He knew that. And that was half the problem.

Joseph leaned heavily against the countertop with a finger flicking aimlessly at the fake bowl of pears, apples and oranges their Aunt Tess had insisted on putting there as a centerpiece. The open doorway left a cool breeze to chill everyone in the house, circulating the rooms like the ghost they'd all been placed before.

They knew having them come for the tournament would be a bit of an adventure... But they never expected this.

Dunga rubbed at the back of his neck. Mariam was right. She was so right. He'd never considered himself the brightest bulb on the christmas tree (not that anyone did...), but he knew common morality enough to judge the situation. And Mariam was right.

Soon she huffed, "Ozuma-"

"I know we should do something Mariam... I'm just not sure if I want to risk my team to do it."

Mariam swallowed roughly. She hadn't been scared in a long, long time... Not when the hunger for a power out of everyone else's hands tore her family apart. Not when she was tied to a chair in some Japanese shithole cursing the BladeBreakers to hell for putting her there. Not when Joseph fell from the scaffolding while he was helping with the third story of the new school building.

Watching that kid drop dead on national tv, or hearing the stories about people going missing... Yeah, that had been scary.

But freak accidents happened all the time.

The Saint Shields had been content to leave it at that.

She hung her head. "They didn't ask for this... And it's too risky for Max and the others to take them on."

There came the sound of shuffling from the table as Tess crossed her legs and uncrossed them again. Uncle Dale was shaking his head and Clay, Ozuma's father was wearing a grave expression. Clearly the older man was thinking, musing over their options that undoubtedly, Judy and Stanley had thought about already.

Report it to the police?  
>Yes, because there was a hell of a lot the police could do about rampaging super spirits who appeared and disappeared out of thin air.<p>

...Leave the others to deal with this on their own?

The thought made Mariam's stomach roll.

Family. Family, and love and friendship were sacred to them and they couldn't just forget about that because this 'wasn't their problem until now'.

She wouldn't.

"My son brings up a very good point, Mariam."

She stopped pacing the floor and glanced at Clay sitting at the kitchen table.

"I know he does... But it's not exactly the first time we've rushed into danger before. You above everybody else know that." The look she gave him spoke volumes to the rest of the room and he sighed heavily. As clan leader and head of Heart's Content's miniscule town council, Clay had so much weight upon his shoulders.

A weight he was soon going to pass on to his son.

Kurt and Connie were sitting on the couch. Kurt held her close... Sometimes, his bad history was so easy to forget when they were seen together like that. He really had changed, since Dunga came into his powers... At least, Connie never had anymore bruises.

Dunga was leaning against the wall beside where his parents sat. He knew they were worried. Only a few times had they all met under such dire consequences. First there were the raids... And it left two dead and two orphaned if not for a kind Aunt and Uncle.

After the threat to their family was vanquished, the 'true council' never had to meet again until Mariam felt the water quiver and she knew instantly that Dragoon and Draciel had been released from their prisons. Then training began, and they met once more before the Saint Shields were sent off on their mission.

Usually these meetings meant something was about to change. In a big way.

Joseph scrubbed a hand back over his hair and just sighed. He wanted a beer more now than he had all day, and that was saying something. "My sister's right... That was a deliberate threat out there. If she, Kyle and Dunga hadn't been there... That prick could've hurt someone."

"I know Joseph, I know." Clay was still thinking. Annie, his wife sat at his side with her long, scarlet hair braided at her shoulder. Hand clasped over the man's bicep to try and ease his mental anguish.

"They've entered the tournament. There are no rules against it and they're starting to get the crowds..! We've got two weeks until the matches start and if they advance to the finals and take on the BladeBreakers... More than just a few coaches and amateurs are going to die."

"Mariam." She ignored Ozuma.

"I can't let Max get hurt..."

"Mariam."

"I won't. I don't care if I have to do it on my own. What good is this power if we can never use it to protect our families?!"

_"Mariam."_ His aggravated voice snapped Mariam out of her tirade, and she bit her lip. "We're not going to let them get hurt."

She released the breath she'd been holding like the air in her lungs weighed a thousand pounds. "So we're going to help them...?"

Ozuma let the nighttime breeze ruffle his hair.

"...We have to, don't we."

"Son."

Here came the protests.

"It's too dangerous-"  
>"We've lost enough already-"<br>"_They _brought this problem here-!"

Ozuma simply held up his hand as Clay, his mother and a few of the others' voices began to sing out in complaint of his decision.

"You told me that this land and everything in it was soon going to be mine, to watch over and protect. You wanted me to accept my role and make decisions... So I am. And I have. My word is final."

Mariam couldn't help it. She launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around Ozuma like he was her lifeline. Once more as she felt his heat, she imagined the future. So hard to picture... But she had to see it.

Then again, she never thought she would see the day a threat came along that even the BladeBreakers couldn't take down.

It took hours, but an initial plan was formed.

_'Once more unto the breach, dear friends.'_

* * *

><p>"We're no strangers to a little scrap, Max."<p>

"There's a fine line between a 'scrap' and daring someone to kill you Mariam!"

He wondered if she could hear his heartbeat, thudding out of his chest. The pounding sensation seemed to hold Max there, rooted to the spot, digging the heels of his sneakers into the dirt roads.

"If my mother put you up to this, then you don't do it. I'm not letting you guys risk your lives just because some egomaniac team thinks they can walk all over us! It isn't the first time we've tangled with screwed-up bitbeasts and I know it won't be the last! Mom, Dad, Hiro and the others might be content to let you do this... But I'm not."

She wanted to raise her hands and massage her temples. Seeing Max this worried was... It made her heart flutter in all the right ways, and that was a sign of trouble in itself. The past few weeks had been nothing but growing closeness between them, his infatuation so obnoxiously obvious to her and Mariam trying like hell to hide her own.

Mariam supposed, though, that leading her team into a deliberate ambush to make sure Max and his friends weren't in the line of fire wasn't exactly much of a cover-up.

"Judy didn't make us do this... We're choosing to do it. We have the ability to do, for once, what you can't."

"I don't care. I don't want you involved in this."

"You're assuming the worst Max! It doesn't have to be that hard; get in, get out. That's all there is to it, and honestly if we have to fight through a few hard-up beginners to get to the bitbeasts then who cares...?!" She watched the bob of his throat as Max swallowed a speech's worth of words. "...We're gonna be fine. It'll take a lot more than some Voltaire-wannabe to put any of us in a pine box."

Max opened his mouth, and then closed it. Stammered once or twice, then just gave up. He always knew that she was the sort of girl who put her mind to something and then followed through. ...That's why she seemed so damn unstoppable.

But that didn't mean she was tougher than a bullet.

Mariam stepped forward, and against all better judgement her hand lifted Max's own and held it tightly between her pale palms. He closed his eyes, tight, and he didn't want to open them again. That contact, the brush of her skin against his was the key reason they were even here in the first place... And look what he'd brought to their doorsteps.

"We were raised with this, Max. This is who we are. You tried... God I know you tried. But we told you that there weren't going to be any promises. We would rather take our chances then let you get hurt...!"

Max opened his big blue eyes and he sort of wanted to cry. He wasn't a child, and he wasn't naive; he wasn't gonna up and bawl in front of the girl he'd been chasing for three years and prove himself less of a man than everyone already thought he was. But he wanted to.

Desperately, as if the pathetic act of his tears could keep her from doing the inevitable.

He didn't cry. Instead, he told her everything.

"If something were to happen to you, Mariam, I don't know what I'd do."

* * *

><p>A week later saw Max absolutely heartbroken. Tyson was so angry he couldn't be talked to. Ray couldn't face them. Kai wasn't surprised, but something weighed on him and kept him anchored to Max's side. Kenny busied himself by planning crisis interventions for the BBA... And Hilary just kept crying.<p>

They begged him to step back. They couldn't handle another loss.

But Max was born to test the odds.


	19. S is for Show

**S **is for _Show_

He clung to her hand tightly.

Couldn't help but notice that she held back, just as hard if not harder.

"You look so beautiful."

She looked up at him and scoffed. "I know you're just trying to make me feel better."

He laughed at her. God, she absolutely confused him sometimes. Because Mariam _was _beautiful. He knew that, somewhere inside she knew that and even the world knew that. Back four years ago when the BBA had first met the Saint Shields, the world knew she was stunning. In a sweatband, a long ponytail and even after a loss... Mariam was so beautiful.

Now, though, she was otherworldly.

"In that dress, you're gonna put every other girl out there to shame."

Again she scoffed at him, and shuffled around. Max was forced to glance down as his love's hand left his own, only to move up and hold onto his arm even tighter; fingernails embedded in the thick BBA jacket sleeve that bore the BladeBreaker's trademark blue, red and gold coloring.

"It's not about how I look..."

He arched a blonde eyebrow. "What's up then?"

"Max, you... You're used to this. Emily, Hilary, Julia and Ming Ming are used to this, they all are. And last year it was easier because we weren't acting like ourselves when we met the HORNET crew. But this..." Her sentence left hushed as all the screaming outside intensified. "Max... This is insanity."

"Welcome to my life." He grinned at her. "Mariam it's just a few minutes on the red carpet; then we can go inside. It's no big deal, they ask stupid questions anyways."

Most of the beyblading world knew Mariam; and after the charity tournament in Newfoundland, the Saint Shields became a better-known name as well. But of course, not every beyblade fan was a _super_fan and since the Saint Shields weren't listed on the BBA's official registered teams archive, people who hadn't followed the professionals during the off-season probably hadn't heard of them.

"Your fangirls are gonna want to rip me apart..."

"Just don't get close to the fence."

"What?!"

A man with a head mic waved two fingers at them before Max had a chance to respond with anything other than a wink.

"Here we go babe."

Two heavy-duty doors opened before them and the noise that spilled into the building was deafening. Screams and cheers and signs were being waved in every direction. It was... A lot to take in.

"GO MAX GO!"  
>"I LOVE YOU MAX!"<br>"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Mariam squinted in the bright light of the day as the sunshine hit them and she almost stumbled; luckily, Max was able to keep a tight hold on her. Camera flashes went streaking before their vision and it was... Like a stampede.

As Max steered them down three steps and onto the red carpet that lead the couple into the new stadium, photographers and journalists bumrushed the group. Mics of every shape and size and color were shoved into their faces as Max clasped her waist and slowed them to a stop.

"Max any word on your competition this year?! Who are you most worried about facing in the finals?"  
>"Is it true that the two of you are engaged?!"<br>"Mariam are you really pregnant?!"  
>"How's the relationship going with your team Max?!"<br>"Is it true that Kai is dating a model?"  
>"Is Draciel all pumped up for battle?!"<p>

Every word she'd run over in her mind to answer the simple questions with dried up and disappeared. Instantly her tongue was like sandpaper and it was all Mariam could do to swallow. God, Ozuma, Joseph and Dunga had to be dying laughing right now... Looking up at her blonde counterpart, her eyes widened a little.

She'd seen it on tv before... But still. How easy Max made this look, it was downright incredible.

Her man was standing tall, all grins and even from her angle at his side, Mariam knew that no other beyblader could do a magazine cover justice like he could. Max reached out and shook some hands, took a marker and quickly signed a photograph and a beyblade box and a few other nameless things as he said "Thank you!" and nodded at screaming faces every two seconds.

He pulled her closer; let a microphone slip into their airspace.

"I can definitely say that competition this year is going to be tough! From the time I've spent with the AllStarz this season I know that Michael Parker is going to be aiming for a win. But I've also noticed that F-Dynasty has really been unstoppable this year in Spain so when the BladeBreakers meet them at the tournament it's going to be one exciting match!"

He always knew just what to say.

"Draciel is _definitely _ready for a good battle! It's been a great off-season for us but she's ready to get back into training and to see the guys again. I think she's more excited for the tournament than I am!" Lots of laughter; oh Max was such a charmer.

The crowd roared their approval, and as Mariam ran her eyes over the excited faces Max took the brief opportunity to sneak a glance downward at what he considered the love of his life. Mariam had put on a little smile, coy but pretty nonetheless; not at all hauty, not at all... Cocky, like girls he'd been photographed with before.

It brought his own smile out, even brighter than before and he wondered if they could see that; if the press and the fans and the tv crews could pick up on how much happier he truly was when he had her at his side.

Leaning down a little, Max touched his lips to indigo locks. "Let's get you away from the masses; that's enough publicity for today."

Mariam sighed in relief and gave the screaming fans and flashing cameras a little wave as Max held up his hand and told them, "No further questions guys, but thanks so much for coming out to see the opening of the new stadium!" He shook a few more hands and then, before the girls got too excited Max tightened his grip on Mariam's waist and the two beat a hasty retreat into the waiting doors of the new beyblade training arena in downtown New York.

Once inside security shut the doors behind them and Mariam whistled.

"I guess all the fans really do add another element to the whole 'fame' thing..." She shook her head, pushed a tendril of blue hair back out of her face. "It was easier to smile and be confident back home when all the press was there."

"Yeah, I guess having so many people interested in you out there can be intimidating... Especially the first time."

Mariam tilted her head.

"'First time?' If I can recall, the Saint Shields don't plan on registering with the BBA... I won't be getting anymore air-time." She smirked at him, but Max smirked right back. And that was a bad sign.

Usually.

"You're with me now, Mariam. The cameras and stuff are kinda a part of my life... And I know you'll adjust just fine."

Mariam made a face, but he kissed her nose. And that always made her giggle. "Aren't you worried that your _fabulous _girlfriend might steal all your spotlight?"

"More like make people envy me. They'll say, 'why that Max Tate sure has himself a hot piece!'" Mariam's mouth went agape for a moment before she shook her head in mock disgust.

"Shame on you, using your hot girlfriend as a publicity stunt."

He winked one brilliantly blue eye. "Nothing wrong with putting on a little show."

She laughed at him and pulled him closer to her by that BladeBreaker jacket of his.

* * *

><p><strong>MS: <strong>Sorry for the delay guys; I guess I was waiting for a third review for chapter R but clearly it wasn't coming so I had to update haha. I wanted to do a little slice of Mariam trying to fit into Max's hectic, fame-filled life and this is what resulted. Hope you enjoyed it! As well guys, I just wanted to make a little point of saying that if you're wanting to message and inquire about the roleplaying, I just want to make sure you know that it can be a little time-consuming. If you don't think you really have the time to dedicate to getting a story going, it's probably best that you don't bother! But as always, questions are welcomed :)

Thanks everyone, and reviews pleaseeeee? :)


	20. T is for Tell

**T** is for _Tell_

"You like Hilary Tyson, admit it!"

Tyson let out a howl of desperation and with his hands buried in his hair, he flopped backward on the newest posh hotel couch.

"Stop terrorizing me with that horrible imagery Ray!"

"'Imagery', Tyson?"

Tyson turned his head toward the Chief, sitting on the floor with Dizzi in hand.

"Yeah, it means like... An image."

"We know what the word means Tyson; we were referring to our surprise over the fact that you had the mental capacity to use it correctly."

"...Did Dizzi just call me stupid?"

Kenny just sighed while Ray let himself have a little laugh. Another trans-continental trip, another foreign hotel and another night of room service, too much lame tv, Kai bitching that they should be training and the guys just trying to tolerate eachother's presence.

Yep; too much time spent with the same people.

Kai was sitting in the loveseat furthest away from the arguing and joking bunch with his nose buried in a beyblading magazine. Typical. Kenny was typing away on Dizzi, talking about this and about that and making it easier for Tyson to avoid Ray's comment about him liking Hilary a lot more than he let on. Ray had recently gotten off the phone with Mariah, and well, that had been what spurred on the current conversation.

"So what's the answer Tyson? You know we know!"

_'If we know then why are you still asking him Ray?'_

Max held in his sigh. He was sitting beside the large front window of their hotel room, staring down at the racing lights of the cars below. Being in Las Vegas reminded him of being home in New York; a lot of the brightness of the night from light pollution was the same.

Sometimes, while he tried to enjoy every moment... Max found himself wishing he could just turn the world off for awhile.

And tonight was one of those nights.

Especially when Ray and Tyson started going on about girls.

"I DON'T LIKE HILARY! She's so, so...!" Tyson kicked out at nothing with his feet and groaned again. "She makes me pay attention in school, and annoys the hell out of me when I just need a break..."

Kenny looked up from his laptop.

"I think all girls do that Tyson."

"Well Hilary does it worse!"

Ray gave his beyblading buddy a knowing smirk. "You can't hide it anymore Tyson; just so you know." He turned his head toward the blonde sitting at the windowsill, and Max internally cringed as he felt eyes slide over him.

_'Here we go...'_

"Hey Max, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay... So are you still talking to that girl from New York? Mindy?"

"Mandy..." He sighed. "And no. That was just for fun." It wasn't that Max cared that Ray got her name wrong; but he wasn't a dick. He believed in treating a girl well and being a gentleman when you took her out. It just so happened that... Mandy wasn't the one.

The words practically thudded in his brain: _'But you know who is.'_

The sound of Kai closing his magazine and placing it on the table was heard as Ray and Tyson exchanged a worried look. Sometimes, Max got a little sulky... And that was fine because really, no one can be happy _all _the damn time; no matter how hard the perky little blonde tried.

But sometimes it seemed like Max's moods went just a little bit deeper. Like the American was truly unhappy about something... Missing something, needing something, wishing for something. The rest of the team really could only wish they knew what had been up with him, because whatever it was seemed to cut Max a little bit more every year and this was already nearly the third year that this had been going on.

Kenny thought maybe it was about his parents or something.

Nope.

Ray remembered his past experiences with the White Tigers and thought maybe Max felt guilty over ditching the AllStarz to come back to the BladeBreakers.

Nope.

Tyson figured that maybe Max just needed to battle more often, and so he taunted Kai into putting Max into more matches until the team captain just conceded and did it.

That wasn't it either.

Max's issues were soon becoming quite the little mystery.

"You know, Max... If there's something wrong or whatever, you can talk to us. I mean we're your best friends, right?" Tyson pushed himself up to a sitting position and watched his teammate carefully. Tyson might have been a fool sometimes (MOST times) but that didn't mean he was completely insensitive... He could actually be a good friend when he wanted to be.

Max sighed. They _were _his best friends... But even to your best friends, this infatuation with someone he'd met only a couple times and knew nothing about was a little hard to explain. Harder again to justify. He didn't answer Tyson.

Kai crossed his arms, leaned backward in the chair and closed his eyes. Not even one night in this room and already, he could tell Max was getting a little antsy. He himself was never in the best of moods, and well, all it took then was Ray and Tyson having a little spat over the third world tournament or bringing up old memories for the team to be at each other's throats.

His headache could handle none of that tonight.

"Max?" Tyson questioned him again.

"Leave it Tyson. If Max wanted to tell us why he's been acting like someone shot his puppy, he would. It isn't our business."

Max shot Kai a look from the corner of his eye.

"But Kai-"

"I said _leave it_, Tyson."

Max got up from his spot at the window and walked over to the rest of his team. He sat down on the floor beside the Chief, and leaned backwards against the couch.

"Have you guys ever... Ever liked somebody, and you were almost ninety-nine percent sure they liked you back, but you never did anything about it anyways...?"

They missed Kai's smirk, but Ray, Tyson and Kenny inched closer almost on autopilot and if Hilary had been allowed to miss anymore school to be with them on the trip, Max was pretty damn sure she'd be right up in his face instantly too.

Might as well get this over with...

"Who are we taking about here Max?"  
>"What's going on?"<br>"Is this girl somebody we know?!"

Max felt the back of his neck get just a little warmer. "I... Yeah, I'm sure you know her."

And then suddenly Tyson was... _Right there._

"Is it Hilary?"

"What? No!"

Max gave his friend a playful shove backward and Ray raised his eyes with an all-knowing shake of his head. Poor kid... Tyson had it bad. Luckily, they knew Hilary had it bad right back. Shitty that the two of them were so goddamn stubborn that neither of them would ever admit it to the other.

"It's not Hilary... Who it is doesn't matter. I just wanted to let you guys know that sometimes it just plays on my mind a lot. So that's why I've been pissy. And I'm sorry."

Kenny looked like the boy had been robbed of a vital piece of equipment for Dizzi and shook his head quickly.

"You can't just tell us that you basically have a secret crush on somebody and then not let us know who it is!"

Max gave Kenny an odd look. "Mysteries really bother you, don't they Chief?"

"Stop avoiding the subject!"

Max got redder again. "I... It's-"

"Max, did you ever tell this girl how you felt...?"

Max looked up at Ray and found the ex-White Tiger looking at him a bit more calmly than Tyson and Kenny were. Feeling some of the heat move to his cheeks, Max swallowed roughly and shook his head. "No, but I thought it was implied... Like, a lot."

Ray hummed to himself. "Maybe you really need to just let her know what you think of her. How long has this been going on, anyways...?"

Max stammered. "Uh, a few years, awhile, I guess."

Tyson dropped his jaw. "You've liked the same girl for that long and you're still not hitting it?!"

Ray slapped his forehead. "You're not 'hitting it' with anyone at the moment either, Tyson."

"No but I could be! Girls practically climb hotel balconies for us!"

Max rubbed at the scorching back of his neck. Tyson had a point... And he had partaken. Himself, Kai, and even Kenny had spent the occasional night out with a girl that had lead to a _very good _night indeed, but Max just didn't see what he wanted in any of those girls. He assumed Kai didn't either, but then again Max wasn't sure Kai wanted to keep _anyone_ around; let alone a girl who wanted a taste of fame from a BladeBreaker and nothing else.

Kai noticed the red tint to Max's skin and fought the urge to chuckle. Max made his inner turmoils so obvious. Ray crossed his legs underneath him indian-style.

"You really feel a lot for this girl... Don't you, Max?"

Shyly, almost, Max looked back up at Ray over his shoulder. "Yeah... I do. And you know what the craziest part is...? I don't know anything about her. Next to nothing... But I want to. I've been, wanting to... I just don't know where to start."

At the same time both Kai and Ray smiled.

It wasn't hard to imagine now who Max was speaking of... Pale skin, talented blader, green eyes, blue hair and a bit of a sharp tongue came quickly to mind. Crazy how much time had really passed.

"Well Max... Whenever you decide that you know where you're going to start, we'll be behind you."

Ray's kind words brought that Max-Tate-Smile back to the blonde's face.

Yeah, after so much time together the BladeBreakers fought more than ever. And sometimes they all said things they didn't mean. But at the end of the day, Max knew they were a team and as long as they kept working on it and stuck together, that nothing could stop them.

Tyson looped his arm playfully around his friend's shoulders and proceeded to give Max a noogie. "Our little Maxie's growing up and falling in love! Awwwww so sweet!"

As Max laughed and again shoved Tyson away from him, Kai stood up and started toward the bedrooms.

"I wish you luck with this, Max. I've known for awhile that whenever someone speaks about girls, you sulk off and sit beside a window or google pictures of the ocean. It makes more sense now; I was beginning to wonder if you were doubting your heterosexuality."

With that fabulous remark, Kai headed into his room and closed the door behind him.

... Max tilted his head.

"Did Kai just call me gay?"

* * *

><p><strong>MS: <strong>Yeah so I'm officially desperate guys :p Haha, I'm in such a Beyblade mood lately and all I wanna do is write, but I don't have anyone to write with! I have so many ideas and things I want to bounce off someone; and the best way to do that is to roleplay it out through Skype Messenger and see how it would go over as a story. The format goes as follows:

Tyson: "She IS pretty desperate dudes; someone should message."

*Ray shakes his head.* "Tyson, don't you know that you should never call a girl 'desperate'?"

Tyson: "She said it about herself first!"

Legitimately, that is all I am looking for. Someone who would be willing to put a storyline together with me, and work through the dialogue and scene changes. If it turns out well maybe we can post it :) This has worked great for my _Twilight _stories guys and I'd really like to see if a Beyblade multichapter could spawn from a roleplay the same way, so shoot me a message and just let me know you're interested! :) I think I write a decent Kai, so if you have an OC you wanna pair with him hit me up! I also do a great Tala and an awesome Bryan; or so I've been told. So please let me know guys; I'd really like to get a Beyblade roleplay going; I just hate forum-style. It's too slow and too many people so a good story can't really be created. Skype's messenger is awesome for it because it's just like old MSN: quick and easy. :) SO LET ME KNOW! :)

Ps; hope you enjoyed this chapter... I think Max and his teammates having heart-to-hearts is too cute for words.


	21. U is for Unleashed

**MS:** Just because this is funny. Purely.

* * *

><p><strong>U<strong> is for _Unleashed_

"You've officially LOST IT!"

Dunga hit the floor behind the crate where he usually sat and the apple that was aimed at his head went sailing into the wall above him.

"Dunga I _swear to god-_"

"It's not my fault you're fuckin' uncontrollable! Crazy bitch, all I said was that being on your period makes you eat like a pig!"

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Joseph hung his head in shame while Ozuma just massaged his temples. Those two... Christ, they were something else.

See, over their time spent together, the men of the Saint Shields had come to realize that there was a certain time every month that Mariam was basically a pacing tiger waiting for her pound of flesh; and that was usually a chunk out of Dunga's ass.

(Maybe a shark swimming in blood-laced waters was a better analogy for her.)

Depending on what he said, the dumbass always set her off in one way or the other and he just wasn't smart enough to figure out that when there were Tampax wrappers in the garbage can, that maybe he just _shouldn't _piss her off for a week.

No such luck.

Today, on this normal, dreary Monday, instead of stalking their usual prey Ozuma and Joseph were forced off to the sidelines while they watched Mariam back Dunga into a corner. Fun times. At this point they weren't even sure what had caused the fight; apparently Mariam ate like a pig? Joseph had heard on television that girls craved chocolate and he noticed Mariam ate a lot of ice cream at certain times, so he supposed that it was the truth; his sister just didn't like hearing it.

Not that she liked hearing them speak at all, this time of the month. And of allllll the things Dunga could've said to Mariam... Today, he chose the worst possible words.

"It's TRUE Mariam! You ate three pieces of the cake you made last night, an entire box of KFC popcorn chicken, a Big Mac, and half of my chocolate bar and so far that's just been TODAY!"

"IT'S FUCKING NORMAL WHEN IT'S THAT TIME OF THE MONTH!"

"THEN WHAT THE HELL IS THE BIG DEAL?!" The idiot was brave enough to poke his head out over the wood and BAM.

She nailed him; right between the eyes.

The apple put Dunga flat on his back with a curse, juice running down the bridge of his nose, and honestly it had been a LONG damn time since an apple smacked him in the face... A long time. Agility training back in Heart's Content as children had NOTHING on Mariam when she was on the rag.

As the big ape rolled around on the floor, whining that Josephine wasn't _nearly _as insane on her period as Mariam was, Ozuma watched Mariam smirk in her triumph and stomp up to the top floor of the warehouse.

Joseph looked at his team captain and shrugged his shoulders. "When do you think Dunga will figure out that what ticked her off was the comment about Max not liking her anymore if she got fat?"

Ozuma scratched the back of his head.

"Around the same time that Mariam figures out how obvious she's making it."

"Making what?"

"You know what."

"Yeah, I suppose. As long as we're not around when that happens."

Ozuma sighed, nodded his head. "Agreed." He glanced over to his blonde teammate, still on his ass. A deep groan bubbled up from Dunga's throat. He crossed his arms and took a seat on his own wooden box, watching the larger man try and pick himself up off the concrete floor.

"I wish she'd saved at least a few apples in her freak-out... I'm starving."


	22. V is for Vacillating

**V **is for _Vacillating_

'_**Pro**__: Max will spend less time around Rick, Michael and Tyson and just might be able to maintain some of his "gentleman"-like ways.'_

She tapped the edge of her pen against the mostly-blank sheet of paper before her and sighed. She was trying; she really was. But positive attributes to this whole _relationship _thing were getting harder and harder to come by.

Negatives on the other hand...

'_**Con**_: _Max won't be home as much.'_

She rested her chin in her hand and resisted the temptation to huff into the empty air of the kitchen. Between Beycity and here, Max spent so much darn time moving around as it was. She really didn't think he needed the added stress of adding somewhere in the backwoods of Canada to the mix.

Sighing again, this time Judy brought a hand up to her temples. _'Come on. You've got to try a little harder than this... Be supportive.'_

So, she put her pen back to paper.

'_**Pro:**__ She's helping Max become a little more aggressive over what he wants in life.'_

God, that sounded pathetic.

Judy wanted to smack her forehead against her cherrywood dinnertable. Compiling a list of why Max and his little harlot girlfriend should and/or should not be together was going to put her in the nuthouse. And really; between Douglas, Dickenson and every other BBA official she dealt with on a daily basis, Judy did _not _need to be up at 2AM in the morning worrying her pretty little head off over _this. _This of all things.

_**'Con: **__She's a year older than he is.'_

Even writing it, Judy found herself getting a little miffed. She'd never considered her son to be the type to, _ugh, _like older women. Christ.

And the more she thought about it, the faster and faster Judy found herself filling up that sheet of paper.

_**'Con: **__She's rude.'_  
><em>'<em>_**Con: **__She tried to steal his bitbeast; Max might've forgotten that but I haven't.'_  
><em><strong>'Con: <strong>__She doesn't beyblade professionally; her team hasn't registered with the BBA and they're too secretive for my comfort.'_  
><em>'<em>_**Con: **__She's not Emily.'_

Soon a presence at the kitchen archway made Judy turn her head. Taro stood there, staring at her with a smirk on his face and that twinkle in his eye that Judy knew meant 'I want to make fun of you so much right now.'

So smug... So cute.

"What are you smiling about over there? You _do _know we're in the middle of a crisis."

"Crisis, huh? Is that what parents are calling it nowadays when their son gets his first serious girlfriend?"

"Shut up... This isn't funny, Taro."

"It's hilarious. I personally think she's pretty; Mariam and Max make a cute couple, Judy."

"_Ugh _don't say her name. I'm not ready to process that yet." She sighed heavily once more and let her bright blue eyes burn down at the paper in front of her. ...Against her better judgement, she couldn't help it.

_'__**Pro: **__She and Max will give me beautiful grandchildren.'_

It took a second to sink in, and then Judy stared horrified at what she'd just written while Taro laughed as he watched his wife hastily scrawl after it,

_'__**Con: **__I COULD BECOME A GRANDMOTHER.'_

Judy felt like smacking herself in the face because her husband was laughing even louder now and she had images of her barely-an-adult son doing bedroom business that had culminated in his own creation eighteen years ago. Yep, she did NOT need this.

"Look hon. I know you're finding it a little hard to take since Max told you, but... I think this is a really great thing."

She put her pen down and crossed her arms; now that huff from earlier made itself loud and clear.

"Well I don't. Max is too young and, he's not ready to be getting so serious! We were nearly-"

"I snuck in through your bedroom window when you were fifteen Judy. We had a lot of fun times back then if I can recall; and Max was on the way only three years later. Do you know what age that made you when you had Max?"

The groan Judy emitted was almost comical.

"Eighteen."

"That's right. I really think you should give Mariam the benefit of the doubt... Plus, you're forgetting the most important **Pro** on that list of yours."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what's that?"

Taro smirked, placed his empty coffee mug in the sink and walked back over to his wife. As he leaned in over her shoulder, he kissed the top of her blonde head and picked up her pen. Judy felt a slow smile spread over her face as she watched her husband, relentlessly happy and supportive (as always) attempt to prove her wrong. God, Max might've been her splitting image...

But he certainly took after his father.

Taro finished writing his own little scribble, and then placed the pen back down. He kissed Judy's cheek before heading down the hall toward their bedroom. "Goodnight love."

"Goodnight sweetheart." Judy pursed her lips. She knew Taro was going to be right; for all of her faith in science, in math and in what her eyes could see Taro never failed to show Judy that there were other things more important in life. Maybe that was why she loved him so much... Why she always would. Sighing for the final time, she lowered her aquamarine eyes to the paper.

_'__**Pro: **__She makes Max happy.'_

Judy threw the list away. Taro was always right... And maybe that, too was something Max got from his father.

* * *

><p><strong>MS: <strong>So I decided to go a different way with this chapter and give Judy a starring role ;) What do you think? Good, bad? Awful? Lemme know. Plus, I have no idea what I want the letters X and W to be... If you have an idea, leave it in a review and I'll give it some serious thought. Thanks for your patience everyone! Updated journal entry on my profile for why I've been dicking around do much.


	23. W is for Wilderness

**AN: **Well well well... Haha. If it isn't time that I updated! Thanks to a lovely lady I've begun to roleplay with on Skype, my MariamxMax inspiration is coming back to me! ;) That's great news for this fic and probably a lot of stuff I'll write in the future. Hehe. Anyways guys I apologize for the long wait on the update; but I am pleased to announce that not only is this chapter complete, but so is letter X! And I'll start on letters Y and Z as soon as I can. :) So please review everyone, give me 3 nice ones and I'll upload X!

* * *

><p><strong>W<strong> is for _Wilderness_

Mariam looked around the sparse campsite, felt her feet sink a little into the slightly boggy ground on which they stood; the grass long tapered flat and still a little discolored with winter's overuse.

As she heard Max wrestling with the tent behind her, she shivered and turned back to face him.

"Max are you sure this was a good idea? It's only April... It's still pretty cold at night you know."

Max waved her off, trying to connect this post to that post and to make the large, squarish flap he was fooling with turn into a tent. "Come on Mar I know what I'm doing. It's not gonna get that cold! I mean, are you cold now?" He grinned up at her.

Mariam looked down at the thick jacket she wore and sighed.

When Max had wanted to take them camping she had been skeptical, at the very least. It was still a little early in the year and after all the snow that had been dumped on Max's native New York City this winter, Mariam wasn't about to be surprised if April delivered them even more. After all there was a definite chill that lingered in the air; a ghostly hand of frost that weaved in and out of the branches of the trees that surrounded them.

Her green eyes cast around again at the scattered woodland around them. Upstate New York still managed to surprise her everytime Max had her up to visit. When she'd been little and she hadn't realized what she had and had dreamed of a life away from her small town, living in the big city, she'd never imagined the trees. The air that got that much fresher as soon as you left the sprawling cityscape behind.

As it turns out, New York had a lot of great campsites. Always ready and available for use.

"Got it!" She turned around again only to see Max had somehow managed to raise their 4-person tent. He hammered the nails into the ground, the soft flesh of the earth giving way under his strength and holding their makeshift home firm.

"Looks good." Her hands fiddled a little over the straps of her backpack which she still hadn't taken off, and she couldn't help but notice that her blonde partner had shed his jacket some time ago. "Aren't you cold Max?"

...Was that her own breath she just saw?

"Me, cold? No way." He grinned at her... That was definitely their breath. It was cold enough to see their friggen breath.

She sighed again and finally let her backpack drop from her shoulders. "Whatever you say. Alright so we got a tent. Want me to build the fire?" She gestured toward the rusted iron tub and the, what she hoped wasn't totally damp, pile of firewood the park staff had left for their use.

"I can do it!" She raised her eyebrow again as Max squatted down beside her and started to pile twigs and the cut logs of wood into the fireplace. Max's energy seemed to be on another level tonight, and while Mariam knew 'tired' and 'Max Tate' didn't go together... Tonight seemed different.

"Okay... I'll lay out the blankets and sleeping bags then." She pushed herself up and set herself to work. Nightfall was closing in on them fast, the shining New York skyline in front of them becoming brighter and brighter as darkness descended on the state park. Again the blunette was forced to wonder what could've come over Max to suddenly wanna drive them two hours outside of the city when it was late afternoon as it was, set them up at some random campsite when it was still too cold to even go without a coat on and try the whole 'Newfoundland camping experience but in _my _city!'

Mariam smirked to herself; she could still hear Max behind her struggling to get the campfire lit.

She knelt down at the mouth of the tent and begin to unravel their blankets and sleeping bags. Two blankets first: made a soft bed over the cold dampness of the earth. Then the sleeping bags. And then the last two blankets across the top to keep them warm. She heard what sounded like rock grinding against rock over her shoulder and Mari raised a blue brow, but she didn't turn around. A smile came to her face, memories of the BBA's first summer in her little Canadian town coming back to mind.

_They were camping on the beach that night. To the beybladers, or at least to a significant portion of them, it sounded clearly ludicrous. The Majestics and Blitzkrieg Boys particularly hadn't wanted to stretch sleeping bags out over the sand and try to get some shut-eye without the privacy of four walls and presumably a house attendant or a maid._

_But to the rest, they rolled out their sleeping bags with a kind of genuine curiosity and naivete that made Mariam thankful to be able to share this with them. Because, clearly, they didn't get to do this a lot._

_"Hey, do you guys need help with anything?" Mariam watched as Max looked over his shoulder to see Ray had asked some of the Saint Shields' friends if they wanted help setting up: putting beer and drinks in coolers, unfolding lawn chairs, laying out towels, starting the barbeque. Soon, Ray was with Michael (Not the AllStarz Michael), starting to cook up a storm._

_She saw his head turn in the other direction. Kai was helping Ozuma carry armloads of beer cases to stash in the coolers. _

_At this point Mariam could basically see the cogs turning in Max's head._

_"Is there anything I can do?" _

_Ozuma looked at the blonde, nodded. "Start the fire."_

The way Max's face had fallen was so fresh in her mind. For all of his wins, and all of his victories in life... Max had no idea how to start a fire. And to add insult to injury to the BBA's best and brightest, Emily, Kenny, Enrique and Miguel had come to his aid as well. ...And none of them could get it going either.

For a moment Mariam had been guilty of thinking 'it's a fucking beach fire, how hard can it be?' and then she'd realized that for them... Maybe it really was hard. They spent their lives on television and in beystadiums; jumping from hotel to hotel. The only cabin or wild action they saw were training retreats or between the sheets in their lavish homes. They'd all lived so differently... What was simple to one, was cataclismic to the other. Take for example Mariam trying to do an interview.

Mr. Dickenson told the Saint Shields they were never allowed on television again.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of crackling. Looking over her shoulder, she stood up with a surprised grin as the orange and red flames begin to flicker to life amidst the dark logs.

"Shit, you did it." She stood up and smiled at her blonde companion. "I didn't think you could-"

"Well..." Max rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe that had a lot to do with why I wanted to go camping, on my terms."

"What..?"

Max's pale face soon became illuminated by the fire's growing resonance, eating up more and more of the newspaper Mari could now see Max had used as kindling. The smaller twigs he rooted the fire in, they too were sizzling and festering as they were digested by Max's glowing plight. Also becoming brighter in the face of the night, were Max's freckled cheeks.

"Do you remember that first night on the beach...?"

She nodded her head. All too well.

"Ozuma asked me to light the fire. I couldn't do it. None of us could." Mariam tilted her head. Apparently she and Max still thought way too alike sometimes, despite their uncanny ability to see situations from different perspectives.

"Max I didn't need you to drag me out here just to prove that you're a real man-"

"No, I know you didn't. But I kinda did." His hand came up and Max ran his fingers through the blonde hair that he now had to shake, and would undoubtedly smell of woodsmoke for the next morning. "I wanted to spend everyday in Heart's Content trying to impress you... And I wasn't gonna let your friends make me out to be some cityslicker-New York famous kid who couldn't compete with the real men."

Mariam felt a little warm in her chest.. And a little cold, all at the same time that her friends had made Max and no doubt a few of the other beybladers feel so insignificant. She was so flattered that he'd learned to build a fire, she really was... But at the same time, Mariam sort of felt that Max had overdone some things. Sighing, she walked forward and cupped his pale cheek in her hand. It automatically brought a gentle, relaxed smile to Max's face; her touch a reminder that she was still there, still okay, always with him. After everything they'd been through, and after everything Max had done for her...

"I'm glad you learned, Maxie. ...But Christ kid. I thought you would've figured out by now that I was too impressed with you the very first time I watched you beybattle on television. I was even more impressed the first time I watched you beat me. And I was impressed when you let me get pissed and you didn't walk out on me. I was totally fucking psyched when you went cliff-diving with me. I went damn near nuts when you stood up to Ozuma. ...And I'm impressed today, because of how much you mean to me."

Those big blue eyes she had come to know and love so much (and that had aged with experience so graciously) grew softer... But brighter; the same way the fire had roared to life with Max's practiced hands.

"This is why I love you."

"Good; because I don't get this sappy for anybody else." Max grinned at her and leaned in to kiss his partner in camping crime. As he pulled away, Max opened his mouth and then closed it. Opened his mouth again.

"...Can I embarrass myself one more time?"

Mariam raised an eyebrow. "...You're cold aren't you?"

"Freezing."

Mariam laughed loudly and pulled the top blanket out of the tent to wrap around his shoulders. Impressed she was.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Like some of the others in this fic this follows a personal headcanon story of mine, so please review guys and message with any questions you might have! :) PS; check out my personal Tumblr which carries links to my roleplay blogs!


	24. X is for Xoxo

**X** is for _Xoxo_

You know that tense, waiting-around feeling you get when you've been seeing someone for so long and you're just wondering when the big words will get dropped...?

You know, who should say them first, where will it happen, what will be the circumstances, how long will you have been together by then...

Max wondered a lot.

By the time he and Mariam had been seeing each other for eight months, Max was dying to say it.

Dying.

He'd paced his room, wrote it down, asked other people how they thought she felt... But the words just never seemed to come. Maybe Mariam was unsure how she felt... Maybe she wanted it to be special before she told him. ...Maybe Mariam was waiting for it to end and she didn't want to say it at all.

He was so desperate he'd started looking for little hints in everything that she did.

Max would search for it in her touch; in her hugs. In her eyes. And he swore that he'd seen it, each and every time. But how the heck could he be sure when Mariam just... Wouldn't say it? He watched her cook for him often. He watched her wait for him outside of training. She even put up with Tyson and Hilary's arguing. She brought him to hang out with her team. She talked about her family, and he talked about his.

All the normal signs of a relationship were there.

Just those words.. They weren't.

One day, Max woke up in the dojo to find that Mariam wasn't curled up on the futon next to him. But there was a note. On it she'd written,

'_Hey Maxie;_

_left early to get some training done with_

_the team. I hope you don't miss me _

_too much when you wake up.'_

_xoxo_

...X o x o.

Kisses and hugs.

They'd done all that before, honestly they'd gone farther. But 'xoxo' was the mark of love, wasn't it? Saying you _would_ kiss and hug, in a way, it meant more than doing it... Didn't it? This was the first time he'd ever seen Mariam write the iconic little symbols. And that was a lovers-only thing wasn't it? He laid awake that morning and stared at that piece of paper until his irises hurt and Ray was convinced he'd go blind. That was the start of his collecting.

From that point on, as eight months bled into nine, every note or text message or IM or email Mariam had thought to send him, Max was keeping. He savoured each and every one.

_'Max;_

_gone to get some groceries.'_

_xoxo_

_'Hey Max, just getting your text now. Plane just landed, I'm home okay so I'll give you a call later. Xoxo.'_

_'Maxie; _

_I'll be home late from work. I'll be starving then,_

_so what are the chances we can have_

_take-out tonight? Pleaseeee?_

_See you then',_

_xoxo_

He'd started getting quite the little library by the time he and Mariam approached the one-year mark. For awhile, those little symbolic Xs and Os had kept him satisfied. Max would take them out whenever he got a moment alone, glance them over and arrange the sentiments chronologically as best he could remember.

Eventually though, he cracked.

Mariam was never an emotional person and Max knew that. Simply holding her in his arms, pressing herself close to him when they slept, kissing and smiling at him those things meant more to Max than the world. But for him to really _know_ there was one last damn thing he needed from her.

On their one-year anniversary, he asked.

"Mari, don't you love me?"

Mariam had looked up from her dinner where they sat at a pricey restaurant with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah..? Of course." ...Just like that.

Max gaped at her like a fish.

"Then... Then when were you planning on saying it?! I'm not trying to pressure you and I'm not trying to ruin the mood either because I'm having an awesome time, it's just that I've been wondering for awhile when the right time was gonna be-"

"I was waiting for you."

Max stalled his words. "...Huh?"

"I said I was waiting for you... But it didn't seem like you were gonna say it so I guessed it was gonna be an unspoken thing for us. I left hints for you everywhere... I bought heart-shaped stuff for Valentines Day, I bought cards that implied that I wanted to say it, I wrote "_Xoxo"_ on everything..." Mariam just blinked at him. "I wanted you to say it first..." She tucked a strand of blue hair nervously behind her ear; Mariam's thing. "Because I suck at this stuff. Why does the girl always have to be the one who says it first...?"

Max just slowly shook his head.

Mariam watched her lover and Max could tell that his silence was starting to unnerve her. He shifted up in his seat, reached across the table and took a long gulp of the champagne she'd ordered (he was still too young).

"I love you too, Mariam."

She grinned back at him. And that was that.

* * *

><p><strong>MS: <strong>Helloooo everyone! I hope you enjoyed this installment! Short I know and kinda corny, but what can yah do? Haha. You would not believe how difficult it was trying to come up with an X-word. Honestly I scrapped it altogether and that's how we ended up with Xoxo. Haha. Anyways: 2 chapters left... And this fic will be finished! I'm super pumped, but now I'm wondering if you guys have any ideas for the last chapters? Would you like to see funny, romantic, gloomy, sad? Let me know! And review please. :)


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